Мой Прекрасный Ангел
by GrouchyMcEyebrows
Summary: 2062, After WW3 the world is a very different place... Alfred, a famous brain surgeon, stumbles across Arthur who is living proof of the darkness that lies in the city... A darkness that threatens to bring back the war UsUk GerIt PrCa AU minor FrUk
1. пролог

Epilogue

The year is 2062 and the world has barely recovered from world war three.

It was a pointless war that lasted for decades that started when one country discovered that America was creating super soldiers in secret. They were men and women that were created to be twice as fast, twice as strong and twice as resilient as a regular soldier. Scientists in America finally cracked the codes and mass-produced them to fight… To kill. The war lasted many years and countless innocents died along with the soldiers. With their armies wiped out, the other countries soon caved in to America, they had no choice.

America became a very powerful nation. It controlled all.

Today no sky can be seen, the sun hasn't shone in years and it is always snowing. The people who live in the cities live dull lives in the cold darkness, praying that one day the sun may return and give them the happiness that they long for.

One such man prays everyday. He holds hope that one day he can change things for the better. That one day everything will return to way it was.

Such a naïve wish.


	2. Побег!

Today was an important day. It was a very important day in fact, as it was the day that Arthur planned to escape.

He chewed his lip anxiously, dulled emerald eyes darted back and fourth between the cell next to him and the hall. If everything went according to plan he'd be free. Free to find a way to destroy this place. Free of the prison that held him and his most trusted friend. Arthur crawled to the left side of his cell, his large earth green clock dragging on the ground behind him. His sandy blonde hair was a wild nest of tangles beneath the hood. The creature, as the Doctor put it, lay still on the floor. Arthur knew he was still alive. There was no way he'd have died without at least saying goodbye.

A bloodied hand reached out from beneath the cloak and grasped at the creatures foot. The creature grunted and slowly sat up, his violet eyes peered through pale blonde bangs before a small smile appeared on his lips. "подсолнечник, I didn't know you had woken," His thick Russian accent made the words sound slurred. Arthur himself couldn't speak much English but after spending so much time with the larger man, Arthur had come to understand the words that others could not.

Everyone was scared of him. Arthur wasn't. They claimed when he smiled it meant he was going to hurt you and his eyes were colder then the time of frost. Arthur knew he only smiled happily when he was thinking about sunflowers. As for his eyes, he was allowed to feel anger after whet he had been through. Arthur didn't care that no one liked the creature, he did and as long as he was around he felt safe.

"Awake now... Ivan." He said simply and pulled his hand back into the comfort of his cloak. "When? When?" The Ivan chuckled and shifted his self over to where Arthur was situated.

"Soon, after the inspection would be a good time, da..." He looked down the hall thoughtfully. Arthur stood and stumbled over to a mass of rags that he called bed and after a bit of incoherent muttering and messing around he returned with a book in his hands. "You want me to read to you da?" He asked as Arthur sat down next to him again.

"Mm." Was all Arthur offered as a response as he passed the book through the bars of his cell. The book was small and very worn. Pages were threatening to fall out and some of the words had rubbed off.

"Don't you ever get sick of this story?" The creature asked as he turned to the first page. Arthur shook his head and waited in anticipation for him to start. "The tale of the Flopsy Bunnies." He began. Arthur sighed and lent against the bars of his cell as the deep Russian voice comforted him. "It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is "soporific." I have never felt sleepy after eating lettuces; but then I am not a rabbit."

Arthur could read and write perfectly well it was just that he had never been taught to speak. He had lived in the cold prison for as long as he could remember and during that time the Doctor hadn't decided he needed to know how to speak… That was until now. During the inspections he was expected to repeat what the Doctor said. If he didn't he was usually beaten. How he loathed the Doctor.

"One, two, thee, four! Five! Six leetle rabbits!" said he as he dropped them into his sack." Ivan had continued. Arthur laughed as his voice changed to personify that of Mr. McGregor. It was mighty funny listening to a Russian trying to speak with a British accent Arthur had decided the first time Ivan had tried.

They had almost reached the end when footsteps alerted them to the presence of the Doctor. Ivan passed the book through to Arthur who stumbled back to his bed and hid it under the bloodied rags. There he stayed until the footsteps stopped outside his cell. He knew that's where they had stopped because he could feel the Doctor's eyes on him. Very slowly, Arthur looked up to meet the cold blue eyes of the Doctor. They were colder then the time of frost. His own eyes reflected the coldness back at him, hoping that today he wouldn't make him speak.

The Doctor was wearing the same white coat he always did. Arthur didn't understand why he chose to wear the same thing every time they met. The Doctor had the freedom to leave the prison so why did he always wear white? He had wavy blonde hair that reached his shoulders and his chin always had stubble on it. Arthur had been too close to that face too many times so he knew it had stubble on it. It never seemed to go.

"Ah, my pretty little angel frowns do not suit you." He purred in a French accent. "You smile for your neighbour," He indicated Ivan who had moved to the back of his cell too. "Why not me?" Arthur spat on the floor in distaste.

"Never smile!" He hissed and pulled his cloak closer around him. The Doctor clucked his tongue and took a step closer to the cell door.

"I will get you to smile for me, whether I have to force one out of you or not." He stated as he pulled a ring of keys from his coat pocket and unlocked the cell door.

"Don't do this Dr. Bonnefoy." Arthur knew the blonde man who spoke to be a protector as he was continuously wearing neat clothing that made Arthur himself feel restricted. His hair was slicked back and stayed there. Again Arthur didn't understand how it did so but he did know that he didn't like this man any better then the Doctor. Many times the blonde man had dragged him from his cell, kicking and screaming, to the operation room.

"Oh shush Ludwig, I'm too strong for him to do any real damage." The Doctor smirked and closed the cell door behind him; he didn't lock it however. Arthur tried to shrink back further into the corner of his cell, making sure that he was completely covered by his cloak. He didn't want the Doctor touching him.

"Away!" Arthur growled. "Leave away!" The Doctor didn't listen to him though and continued walking one step at a time. Amusement was present on his face as every step Arthur flinched. The Doctor stopped next to Arthur's bed, prodded the rags on the floor with the tip of his black boot. A boot with dark stains on it, Arthur noticed.

"If you'd just except my invitation you wouldn't have to sleep on such a bed... Mine is so much more comfortable." The Doctor smirked and brought himself down to Arthur's level. "What do you say?" He asked and traced Arthur's jaw line with one finger. Arthur looked from the Doctor's face to the floor and back again. He knew he'd regret this later.

"Ow! Son of a bitch bit me!" The Doctor reeled back from Arthur clutching his now bleeding finger. Arthur spat on the Doctor's white coat and smirked; satisfied for now that he'd done something right. His victory was short lived as the Doctor took a step forward and back handed him on the cheek. Arthur grit his teeth and remained silent throughout the treatment.

"If it weren't for your wings you'd be no one other than subject seven." The Doctor said with as much malice in his voice as he could muster. "A worthless, damaged, broken man like you... You're nothing without your wings." Arthur felt his heart twinge at every word. It was true that the only reason he'd survived this long was because of his wings. The guards treated him like something holy, something other then just a human experiment. It often meant fewer beatings. "Your personality drives everyone away... You never really had friends here... Except me." Arthur looked up at the Doctor and glared.

"Friend!" He pointed to Ivan's cell. "Friend of me." The Doctor looked towards Ivan's cell and narrowed his eyes.

"He's not your friend... He's just using you." The Doctor smirked and reached out to grab Arthur's chin forcefully. "Subject six couldn't care less about you." Arthur grabbed the Doctor's wrist with his own bloodied hands, his eyes searching for a lie.

"No! Lies, Friend, Ivan friend!" He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "Friend, friend for always." Arthur continued to say, as if saying the word made it true. The Doctor sneered and yanked Arthur up onto his feet.

"Poor broken fool, I guess I'll have to fix you myself." Before Arthur could argue he was being pulled out of his cell.

"No," Arthur's eyes widened. "No! No Leave! No go there!" He screamed as the Doctor dragged him into the hall where the blonde protector was waiting to grab his other hand.

A loud crash and explosion of metal and stone sounded behind them. All three turned to see Ivan walking out of his now destroyed cell. Blood trickled from his hands and onto the floor, leaving a large puddle. Ignoring it, Ivan ran forward and grabbed the blonde protector with both hands and flung him into the Doctor. Both crashed into the wall behind them and fell to the floor.

Ivan turned to Arthur and smiled. "We're escaping now, da." He said an Arthur grinned.

"Wait, wait book." He muttered and ran back into his cell, digging up the book from the rags before rejoining Ivan in the hall. Ivan offered his hand to Arthur who took it as they both started running through the stone halls underneath the lab. Arthur could feel Ivan's warm blood seep between his fingers and start to soak his cloak a different colour. He didn't like the feel of blood.

They climbed two staircases to reach a white hallway similar to the one downstairs in the prison and opened, or kicked down, five doors before they found an exit. Ivan was fully grinning by now. Arthur could hardly contain himself. They had almost made it outside.

Bang!

A gunshot echoed through the hall, loud and deafening. Arthur hadn't thought anything of it until Ivan fell forward dragging him down too. Arthur yelled in surprise as he hit the ground, his book flying from his hands to land a few meters in front of him. The book was unimportant. Why had Ivan fell? Arthur sat up and inspected his large friend, his eyes darting everywhere at once before settling on a growing red patch on his left shoulder.

"Pain?" He asked and gingerly touched the area not liking that more of Ivan's blood was leaking. Ivan nodded and looked up at Arthur.

"Keep going… you're so close I can smell fresh air. Keep going подсолнечник and don't look back!" Arthur looked down at Ivan and shook his head.

"Both leave! Both friends for always!" He cried. The footsteps of the man who'd shot the gun were getting closer.

"Leave now подсолнечник or we'll never get another chance! I'll meet up with you again soon da? So go now while you can." Ivan pushed Arthur towards the door and winced while doing so.

"Ivan," Arthur whimpered. "Be back." And with that Arthur was running again. His bones were light enough to make running easy for him. He bent down and picked up his book as he made his get away, neatly doing it without falling over. The door was in reach now; its silver handle gleamed in the unnatural light that emitted from the white lights above him. Arthur's hand reached out for the handle, giving it a sharp tug and pulling it open.

Wind! Such cold and dry wind, the likes of which Arthur had never experienced was the first thing that greeted him when he entered the outside world. It pulled his cloak up, exposing his skin pale skin to the harsh element. He wanted to stop; to enjoy his first breath of fresh air but the sounds of footsteps behind him was cause to move forward. He pushed himself through the door and into a white blanket that covered the ground. The white was freezing cold and hurt the sores on his feet till they stopped feeling altogether. But Ivan told him to keep running and not to stop.

Bang! Bang!

Arthur ducked as the shots fly overhead, one missing him by millimeters. He had to ignore the shooter and keep running. He knew if he stopped he'd get caught and then that would be it. Arthur unfurled his wings from underneath the cloak and extended them while picking up speed. He'd flown twice before when he was younger, and he had loved it. Soaring in the air was all he ever wanted to do and one day he hoped to allow Ivan the same pleasure of flying. That day would come, he would make sure of that.

Flying was second to walking for Arthur; the moment his wings had extended they began to flap, slowly but increasing speed the faster he ran. Finally, with one large flap he jumped off the ground, a moment of panic as he dipped before soaring up and towards the fence. He was going make it! He was almost over the fence; he could see the other side.

Bang!

Another shot was fired making Arthur scream and cover his head. An explosion of pain had erupted in his right shoulder and wing as he dived and the horrible truth that he may have been shot scared him. He was over the fence but falling. If he didn't pull up he would crash and they'd catch him regardless. "Graaaahhg!" Arthur screamed and forced himself to turn his wings up. He was doing it! He was flaying again but the pain! He'd felt worse pain and he knew this but he'd never felt pain like this in his wings. They always steered clear of his wings... That didn't matter now, he was flying, and he was escaping. "Escape." He raspy voice said, full of hope.

* * *

"Geez! Stop being so moody and get yourself a girlfriend! Or boyfriend I don't care but just stop acting like the world is ending and get out of the house!" A boy with slightly wavy blonde hair growled at his twin. His violet eyes held pity and anger, something he didn't usually show. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose in a frustrated fashion. The twin he was growling at looked at him irritably from the couch.

"News flash this is an apartment! And I don't have to leave, it's my apartment!" The older twin had similar hair, though it wasn't wavy, and his eyes were a crystal blue and framed by a pair of glasses too. They often reminded him of a time when he could see the sky...

His argument was simple. He had been embarrassed by his now ex girlfriend at the bar a week ago. After asking her to move in with him she had laughed and poured her drink over his head stating, 'I wouldn't move in with you even if you were the last an on Earth!' Wouldn't that put anyone into a spiraling depression? It had seemed that he was the only person who hadn't seen her faults.

"Don't care Alfred! I've got to get ready for my date tonight and I want you out of the house before he comes over to pick me up, I don't feel like being embarrassed by one of your stupid arguments tonight."

Alfred sighed in exasperation and stood up, throwing the clicker down onto the couch childishly. "Fine Mathew, I'll go on a stupid walk so I don't have to see your stupid boyfriend... I seriously don't understand how you can date a prick like Gilbert!" He growled as he crossed the room to his bedroom to find a jacket. He ended up just picking up his grandfathers old bomber jacket with a faded fifty on the back.

Mathew sighed and turned off the television, it was like living with a six year old! "He can be very considerate sometimes and if you bothered to get to know him you'd know that you two have a lot in common." Mathew was fussing about his hair in the mirror by the time Alfred came back out.

"Like I'd want to get to know that bastard." He muttered, garbing his wallet and heading towards the door.

"I heard that Alfred! If you're heading to the shops we need some more milk... maybe get two cause you go through them quickly." He paused and looked at Alfred who was pretending to imitate Mathew with his hands and hadn't noticed that he was watching. "Ahem." He coughed. Alfred smiled sheepishly and gave Mathew a wave before vacating the apartment. "It's hard to believe that that man is the worlds top brain surgeon..." Mathew muttered after he left.

Alfred cursed his brother and his brother's boyfriend. He hated Gilbert so much! The American gave a yell as he started to trudge through the snow. This was stupid! His own brother had thrown him out of his own home and into the cold and unforgiving elements. How cruel! With a growl he started to walk faster in hopes that this would warm up his body and make him forget how angry he was.

The weather in the city hadn't changed for as long as Alfred could remember. Ever since he'd arrived the sky had always been cloudy, he'd never seen the sun, never seen the sky and never had a warm day in his life! One day he hoped that the scientists would figure out a way to blow the clouds away so that maybe they'd get a ray of sunshine every once in a while.

He hadn't gone that far really, just to the end of his street when he saw it. Alfred paused in the middle of the path to look at the red coloured snow that was rapidly turning into red coloured water and the small book before him. His first instinct was too look up... And he fought that instinct with every fiber of his being. If there is a blood like substance on the ground then the source is most likely above. Something landed on his shoulder and his first reflex was to reach up to touch it. "Oh god..." He gaped at the blood dripping down his fingers. "Yuck! Ah rank it's on my jacket!" Alfred whipped the blood on his jeans and stepped back and finally looked up. Needless to say it wasn't what he had expected.

What he saw in the tree wasn't exactly a corpse... At least it looked like it was still alive. Most of the body was covered with what looked like a dirty green cloak while what got Alfred was the large white wing sticking out from under it. Well not exactly white he observed. He gingerly stepped back under the body to get a look at the face. 'A young man...' Alfred thought. 'Wow, those are some big ass eyebrows.' Said eyebrows furrowed together, causing the face to scowl or wince, Alfred wasn't sure which. All he knew was that the man, or angel, needed help and he was a hero, so who was better then him to help a person in need?

Alfred looked at the body then at the tree. This was going to be a problem. The blonde had an idea how the man had landed in the tree but it was too high to pull him down from and he wasn't sure the man was awake to get down by himself. While Alfred was thinking the man in the tree groaned, bringing him back to the situation at hand. How the hell did he get the man down?

Hah! Alfred grinned. The answer was so simple, why hadn't he thought of it first? He pulled up the sleeves of the bomber jacket and proceeded to climb the tree. The cold air made climbing the tree difficult as Alfred soon found out. Not only did his feet slip on the moist bark but also his hands couldn't grip the branches properly. He wasn't going to give up however; he was going to rescue the stranger.

Somehow, Alfred managed to make it up onto the branch that the man was resting on. "Ok time for phase two!" He grinned and tested his weight on the branch. It held. Ok so far so good. Alfred crept a little further onto the branch and leaned over. It still didn't break so Alfred crept a little further. He reached out with one hand to grab a branch to steady him, while with the other hand he leaned over and attempted to snake it under the other. This way he could pull the angel up and onto his shoulders. In theory it was a good idea... Thank god he went to the gym a lot.

Alfred shivered as his hand slid between the blood covered branch and the blood covered body. "Just a little further." He grunted and smiled when his hand come out the other side. "Ok next phase!" Alfred was grinning. This was going surprisingly well! With the other hand still steadying him, Alfred managed to pull the angel up off then branch and towards himself. "Wow he's light." Alfred thought out loud then laughed. "Well if he can fly I'm not surprised."

With a lot of careful maneuvering Alfred soon had the stranger slung over his shoulder and was now making it down off the tree. "Almost-Fuck!" He cursed as his foot slipped on the bark. The body in his arms jerked and caused the man to emit a low groan. "Shit! I'm sorry man, didn't mean to do that!" Alfred doubted the man in his arms could hear him but it felt better knowing he had apologized.

Alfred ended his climbing adventure with a small jump onto the ground but now came another question. 'What now?' Alfred shifted the man so that he was holding him bridal style, feeling that this was a safer way instead of hanging off his shoulder. He looked down at the angels face again, noticing that the eyebrows weren't furrowed anymore. In fact his face looked rather peaceful. Alfred smiled and started to walk back home. Between his veterinarian brother and himself they could treat him. Somehow Alfred knew that it wouldn't be safe to take him to a hospital; in the back of his mind he knew that things like this weren't meant to exist.

"...Book..." The man in arms mumbled.

Alfred blinked. He could talk, and with a British accent to boot. The American looked back down at the puddle where he had seen the book. He slowly knelt in the snow to pick it up, though he didn't really want to touch it. The book looked bloodied, dirtied and covered in diseases. "The tale of The Flopsy Bunnies?" He asked out loud. "By Beatrix Potter..." Alfred shrugged and pocketed the small book. He needed to get home.

Mathew sighed loudly from the couch. His date was unusually late and he hadn't even called to tell him why or if he was coming at all. He was tempted to get up and call Gilbert himself when someone knocked at the door. "It's about time." He grumbled as he stood and walked to the door. The knocking started up again, this time more urgent. "Calm down I'm coming!" Mathew yelled. Boy was he going to give Gilbert a piece of his mind! The moment he opened the door someone pushed through it and this someone wasn't Gilbert.

"Alfred? Didn't I tell you to- Hey don't ignore me!" Mathew shut the door and locked it before following Alfred to the older twins bedroom. He watched from the doorway as Alfred placed a bundle on his bed then scurried from room to room, grabbing various objects as he went. "Alfred what the fuck is gong on!" Mathew growled, annoyed at being ignored for so long.

"Well if you bothered to help me maybe I'd tell you," Alfred hissed as he pulled off the green cloak that covered the angels body and tossed it behind him with a disgusted grunt. He hoped the blood wouldn't soak into his carpet. Alfred had to remember what to do with someone who's could possibly have hypothermia. Once the source of cold had been removed he went to his closet to grab a large, thick blanket and pulled it over the man in his bed. Mathew stepped forward into Alfred's bedroom and inspected the lump. "A person? Where'd you find him? Why are you both covered in blood? Alfred what's going on here!" Mathew's questions remained unanswered as Alfred ducked out of the room again, returning with towels.

"Mattie I need you to go boil some water, a lot if you don't mind then I need you to check this guy's wing." Alfred asked calmly, setting the towels down next to the bed and gently peeling back the covers. He wrapped one of the towels around the stranger's head in an attempt to dry his hair and keep him warm. With another towel he gently dried the mans body, wiping off as much blood as he could.

"Wait back up... Did you just say wing?" Mathew stood dumbfounded in the middle of the room. Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Yeah I did, Mattie! This guy has lost a lot of blood and he's been out in the snow for some time in basically just a cloak! I need that water!" Alfred yelled at his younger twin before returning his attention to the man in his bed. Mathew knew better then to argue or ask any more questions. He ran from the room and filled the kettle to the brim with water, it would be at least a minute before the water boiled so he returned to watch Alfred.

Said twin took the bowl and placed it on the ground beside him before filling it with the hot water. "Shit almost forgot." Alfred muttered and walked over to the bathroom. Mathew blinked and waited to see Alfred emerge with a pair of white gloves. "Never forget hygiene Mattie." He smiled went back to kneeling next to his bed.

Alfred looked over the main wound. He frowned down at it, realising it looked very much like a bullet wound. Lucky for the angel it had only grazed his shoulder; there was just a lot of blood. Alfred gently pulled the wing from underneath him and inspected it. The man whined pitifully and tried to move away but Alfred held him still with his free hand. It seemed the wing was what had taken the worst of it. The bullet had gone through, that he could tell, but it had clipped the large bone that held most of the wings muscles. Even just a chip missing could hinder his flight. Alfred chewed his lip and placed the wing back on the bed. "Mattie where's that water!" He yelled.

Mathew came in with the kettle and a deep bowl. "Sheesh you don't have to yell you know. I was only in the next room." Alfred smiled apologetically.

"Sorry bro, I'm just really worried about this guy you know." Mathew smiled softly down at his brother; it was hard to stay mad at him.

"Yeah, I know." Mathew was just happy that Alfred was taking an interest in someone other than himself. Ever since the incident with his girl friend at the bar, Alfred had lost his will to help others and concentrated on making himself more miserable. He went to work but only when called in, other than that he'd stayed in the house watching cartoons. Mathew wasn't entirely sure the man in his twin's bed was an angel; he was not religious enough to believe that, however he did believe that it was fate that Alfred had found him. That somehow Alfred had been saved.

Alfred gave him a thumbs up before grabbing the kettle and pouring the water into the bowl. He dipped one of the smaller towels into it and waited a few seconds for it too cool before very, very gently cleaning the blood off the wound. It wouldn't need stitches, but the wing would need a splint to make sure it healed correctly. He'd have to ask Mathew to do that part. Every so often he looked up at the mans face, watching as the larger-than-life eyebrows dipped, grimacing every time the hot cloth touched his skin.

Once the shoulder was clean Alfred picked up a roll of white bandages and began to bind the wound. It didn't take to long to do and soon Alfred was ready to move onto the wing. "Hey Mattie help me out with the wing?" He asked and sent his brother a puppy dog look. Mathew rolled his eyes and smiled.

"You didn't have to waste a look on me, I was going to do it anyways... Besides my date hasn't turned up so I got time." He said and walked towards the bed as Alfred pulled the wing out again. "I'll just grab some gloves," Mathew disappeared into the bathroom and returned with the white gloves. "Ok let's have a look shall we?" A gloved finger gently prodded the wound on the wing making the man whine again. Mathew felt a pang of guilt at having caused someone pain but he had to press on ignoring the fact that he was working on a human and pretended that the wing belonged to a swan instead.

"Ok I think if we just clean it up and make sure it's immobilized it should be fine till I can take him to the center and take an x-ray to see how much damage we're looking at. With all this blood and feathers its hard to tell." Mathew smiled wistfully and looked at his brother. Alfred was nodding but he was looking at the angel.

"That sounds like a plan, well let's get to binding." He promptly began to clean the wound, asking that Mathew hold the wing because it was too big to hold and clean at the same time. Once clean, Mathew instructed Alfred on how to tape the wing to the angel's own body while stating that this would be safer then using any home made splint.

"That should just about do it," Alfred looked down at their handiwork before covering the angel with the blankets again. "I suppose we should let him rest for now, I'll give him food and a bath when he wakes up." Mathew nodded and pulled off the bloodied gloves.

"Ok, now that the danger has been averted, tell me what happened." Alfred pulled off his own gloves and grinned like an idiot.

"Alright I'll tell you about my heroics." Mathew rolled his eyes and slapped his brother over the head. "Ow! Mattie! What was that for?"

* * *

"Fuck! He got away!" A white haired man cursed; glad that no one would be able to hear him above the sirens. He pulled the empty rounds from his gun and replaced them with fresh ones. With a loud sigh, he turned and started to walk back towards the exit. "Damn...!" He'd tried to keep from damaging subject seven but somehow the subject had kept flying even though he'd shot it in the wing. He checked his watch. "Double fuck now I'm late!" He groaned and walked back inside, closing the door as he went letting out a relieved sigh when the sirens finally stopped and silence returned. Well not quite silence.

Subject six was still on the ground bleeding and groaning softly every so often. He sneered down on the experiment and stepped on his left shoulder; satisfied with the louder groan of pain he emitted.

"Gilbert what the hell are you doing! And where's subject seven!" Gilbert whirled around to see Dr Francis Bonnefoy and West, his younger brother, approaching. Both looked thoroughly pissed off.

"What got you two in a bad mood?" He chuckled but stopped abruptly when both sent him rather nasty glares. "He'll heal, look my bullet has already been pushed out of his skin!" This was true. Subject six was more or less a super soldier, an enhanced human with insane healing abilities and strength. He could have shot the subject all day and he still wouldn't have died. Now there was an idea...

"Be that as it may you're damaging him! And you didn't answer my other question, where is subject seven?" Francis glared at him whist holding his hand protectively. It looked slightly bloodied and bruised from where he was standing.

"I tired to keep from damaging him much so I shot his shoulder while he was in mid flight but somehow he could still fly and he disappeared over the wall. By the time I got outside he was gone." Gilbert tucked his gun back in its holster. Francis yelled French curses and stamped his foot in frustration.

"Find him! I don't care how but you have to bring him back here alive!" Gilbert frowned and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Can't I start looking tomorrow? I have a date tonight." Francis' glare darkened. "Ok, ok I'm going now, No love for ol' Gilbert then." Gilbert raised his hands in defeat and left in search of the subject six in the snow.

Francis looked down at Ivan who was struggling to sit up. "Now now my dear Ivan, you have some explaining to do," He smirked and pulled a few strands of hair from his vision. "Ludwig, please help Ivan to the operation room. I think I'll make a quick visit to the nurses office." Ludwig nodded and hauled Ivan up onto his feet.

"Keep moving and don't try anything funny." The German muttered and pulled out his gun, digging it into Ivan's back to make sure he got the point. Ivan wearily walked back down to the place he'd been trying to escape. The operation room was one floor above their cells and possibly the worst room to end up in. Of course that didn't matter, he could take the torture and still heal, this he knew. A small smile grew on his lips. At least Arthur had escaped. His smile widened. His подсолнечник, his sunflower had finally made it to the surface.


	3. Anata wa mitsukeru koto ga watashi

"-And the temperature today is a toasty 9 degrees! One of the warmest days yet!"

Arthur's eyes flew open at the strange voice yelling somewhere nearby and sat up, pulling the blanket covering him tightly around his neck. A small tune sounded next to where he was sitting, causing him to flinch again. "Now prepare yourself for the best music of this year!" Arthur promptly grabbed the noise-making box and threw it across the room. It crashed against the wall on the far side of the room with a loud smash and then was silent. Arthur's heart was beating rapidly in his chest as his eyes darted around the strange new room.

Where was he? What was this place? Arthur clutched at the blanket in his hands nervously. Was this a dream? "I-Ivan?" He rasped, his throat feeling dry. When he heard no Russian voice from anywhere in the room he determined that it wasn't a dream. When he finally managed to calm his breathing Arthur took a better look at where he was.

It was warm and soft and definitely not the Doctor's room. That meant he hadn't been caught... or maybe he'd died. Ivan had mentioned something called heaven and how it was supposed to be a place where you couldn't feel pain. Arthur could still feel pain in his shoulder and wing so he couldn't be in heaven. Yet everything was white and clean it felt... sterilized somehow. Even the bed felt cleaner then he was used to.

Arthur slipped out of the bed and stumbled onto the floor, gasping when his feet didn't touch stone but instead something softer and more comfortable. He slid to the ground and smiled, running his fingers over the fluffy floor. "Nice..." Arthur whispered. The floor reminded him of Ivan. He paused and sat up. Ivan was still at the prison and he had most likely been taken to the operation room. Arthur shuddered involuntarily and hugged himself. He couldn't think about that room, he could not.

A light flashed from one side of the room making Arthur jump again. He looked over to the source of the flash and saw a window. A window! Arthur stood and made his way over, laying his hands against the glass and looking out. The sky looked so bleak, it didn't look like the English countryside at all! That reminded him again. "Book!" Arthur gasped and looked back around the room. Where was it? Where was it?

Arthur then proceeded to lay waste to the strange bedroom, pulling out draws, searching through clothes and even... Arthur didn't know what was but it didn't have his book so it wasn't important. "Where... Where... Where!" He opened one of the doors and discovered a whole array of clothing and shoes. Digging through each of the shirts, pants and shoes and Arthur still couldn't find it. Even when he pulled each individual piece of clothing out into the room just to make sure.

Arthur still couldn't find it; he couldn't find his most prized possession. Arthur sighed and resigned himself to the corner where he felt slightly safer. He had to forget the book and return to help Ivan, the book wasn't nearly as important as Ivan but... "No, Ivan friend for always." He forced himself to stand and walk back to the window. He wasn't about to leave his only friend in the hands of the Doctor. However when he reached the window and tried to spread out his wings he discovered something.

His wing, something was wrong with it. Arthur found his right wing had been attached to his side with some kind of tape. Why had this happened? He peeled the tape off one piece at a time before discovering why it was there. The moment the tape was gone his wing flopped to the floor, feeling numb and utterly useless. This wasn't good; if he couldn't use his wing then how was he supposed to fly back to the prison?

Arthur ran his tongue over his dry lips and picked up his wing. It was then that he saw his shoulder all wrapped up. Since when had the Doctor given the word for him to be fixed? Well, if he was fixed then all the more better for him. Arthur turned back to the window and started to fiddle with the latch and opened it. The cold biting air that rushed in left goose bumps all over his skin. His gasped and held his wing closer to his body, shivering. No matter how cold it was he still had to help Ivan so with no further thoughts Arthur climbed up onto the windowsill and prepared to jump.

"Hey! What the fuck!" Startled, Arthur wobbled before falling back onto the strangely soft floor. The voice that had startled him was replaced with footsteps and a shadow that fell across him. He looked up to see an unfamiliar man standing over him with a displeased expression, wearing nothing but a pair of dark pants. "Are you trying to kill yourself? God it's cold in here!" The strangers azure eyes glared at him from behind some kind of contraption before he shivered. Arthur opened and shut his mouth unsure if he could trust this man. The blue-eyed man shook his head and closed the window, sealing his exit.

"Who?" He asked in a small voice, wondering if he'd be answered. The man looked back at him and sighed deeply.

"Who? I'm Jones to you and what the fuck did you do to my room? It's a mess! Hey is that my alarm clock!" Arthur shied away from the yelling man and huddled back into his corner. This place wasn't safe it was frightening.

"Alfred why are you yelling? Oh he's awake!" Another one! There was another one at the door. Arthur felt his chances of escaping quickly sliming. This one looked slightly less threatening, in fact he looked safer then the taller one. He was wearing grey pants and a loose red shirt. They both wore some kind of contraption on their faces. Was the Doctor controlling them with those?

"Mathew looked what he did to my room! He destroyed it! And do you know how long it took me to clean this up?" The one called Alfred yelled and pointed down at Arthur in an accusing way.

"Oh for the love of- Alfred! Your room doesn't matter! I thought that you might have changed your attitude but obviously I was wrong!" The smaller one, Mathew, argued and crossed his arms.

"Who are you my mum? I told you not to act like one!" 

"Well if I didn't you'd be sulking around on the couch and he would be dead! And you should be glad I actually do act like a mum otherwise you would be living in a pigsty and never eat!"

"I told you I'd hire someone and if I get hungry I'd just go to a McDonald's or something!"

"Oh how I wish McDonald's would go bankrupt or fail the health inspector's test! I still can't believe it's still around all these years..."

"Hey, don't you dare say bad shit about McDonald's! It tastes great!"

Arthur blinked and watched the two yell it out. He shook his head at the two men arguing and hugged his knees to his chest. They looked so similar, like twins or brothers, so why were two people who were obviously family arguing?

"If you get fat-" They were both interrupted by Arthur's stomach, screaming out for food. Arthur flinched as two pairs of eyes swiveled to look at him curiously before turning away again.

"Uhh... A-Alfred maybe we should get him some clothes." The smaller ones face was red.

"I agree with you Mattie but I'm not giving him clothes till he's cleaned up. I already have to sterilize the sheets." Alfred's face was red as well, but he seemed to be handling it better. It was while Arthur was thinking about why their faces were red that the taller one took a step forward and reached out to him.

"N-no!" He yelled before he had realized it. They both stopped and stared at him, in the dim room he could make out confusion on their faces.

"Hey man we're not going to hurt you, if we were we wouldn't have fixed your shoulder." Alfred took his hand back, looking slightly offended.

Fixed; he'd said that they had fixed him. "Fixed?" Arthur repeated the word as a question and pointed to his shoulder. The two men exchanged glances again.

"Well it's not fixed just yet," The Mathew said and ran a hand through his hair. "I still want to take some x-rays of your wing to make sure the damage doesn't need surgery but for now I don't think that the injury is life threatening."

"I'd be more worried about those other... bruises and cuts you have," The Alfred pointed at him. "They look like they need some attention."

"Doctors?" Arthur asked and pointed to both the twins. The taller one grinned then and stuck out his thumb.

"I'm a brain surgeon, one of the best around if I do say so myself!" He boasted. The smaller twin sighed and stepped forward.

"I'm a vet, I'm a... Animal doctor." He smiled and pinched the Alfred's arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" He growled and glared at the other.

"For scaring him earlier! Now come with me I want to have a word with you before I leave to get milk, which you forgot to get yesterday!" Arthur watched the two of them turn to vacate the room, smiling as the taller twin argued back with a rather childish pout.

"Well I had a good reason for not getting the milk yesterday!" And the door was closed, leaving their voices muffled though still loud. Arthur waited on the floor for his strength to increase before grabbing the large white blanket and pulling it onto himself. It felt nice and warm under the blanket and safe, especially safe. The noise of the world was dulled and it was comforting. Arthur was used to the silence of the underground prison not to the loudness on the surface.

In the distance he heard a door slam shut. 'He must have left.' Arthur thought. A click and squeak alerted him to the door opening and shutting. He could hear soft footsteps on the strange floor creeping closer before the weight of the blanket was lifted off his head. He tilted his head up to see the taller twin smiling down on him.

"Shower time, no offense but you really need one. Now come on out of there." He stepped back giving Arthur room to leave his cocoon by himself. Arthur silently thanked him for the space and tentatively crawled out from under the blanket, his wing still dragging on the floor awkwardly. "Aw geez, were you really going to try and fly away?" Alfred rubbed the side of his forehead and led the way to another room. Arthur picked up his limp wing and carried it, disliking the dragging feeling.

"Have you ever had a shower by the way?" The blonde ahead of him opened a door to another white room. This one looked cold however, and when he stepped onto the floor it was harder. The man in front of him smiled and walked over to a glass chamber. "Come here, this is a shower." Arthur reached out and touched the glass, tapping it with each finger.

"How?" He asked and tilted his head slightly. Alfred grinned and opened yet another door, this time it was disguised as a glass window.

"If you want to have a shower any time you just have to turn these knobs here... You see this one here that is coloured red is hot and the other blue one is cold, make sure to check how hot the water is before you get in though otherwise you could be in for a nasty shock if you know what I mean." Arthur of course didn't know what he meant but that didn't matter as he watched the water pour out of a spout and hit the glass opposite it. It looked absolutely amazing! Alfred chuckled and turned the cold tap.

Arthur stepped closer to the shower and let the water run over his hand. It was warm and pleasant like how he felt when Ivan read his book. His book! Arthur whirled to look at Alfred. "Book!" He yelled. "Where book?" He needed to know it was Ok.

"Whoa! Whoa! I got your book it's safe ok?" Alfred reached out and grabbed Arthur's arms, giving them a slight squeeze; Arthur in turn yelped and tried to pull away but slipped backwards in the process. He looked up to see Alfred reach out to him and try to pull him back up but the taller man tripped on the bathroom mat and started to fall forward too.

"Shit!"

* * *

"Oh for the love of fucking!" Gilbert kicked a park bench in angry frustration. The white haired, red-eyed security guard had been out all night and the best he could find was some blood in the snow. He didn't even know which way subject seven had gone from the tree. So if he returned to Francis with nothing but a blood sample he knew he would get chewed out like never before. "Stupid prick with his stupid angel!" He muttered darkly and stuffed his hands into his pockets to try and keep warm.

Gilbert gave up and slumped down onto the bench, intent on getting some rest for his aching legs when someone familiar walked past. "Mattie? Hey Mattie!" Gilbert grinned and ran over to the startled blonde. "Hey Mattie!"

Mathew blinked and held the milk closer to his chest. "Gilbert?" His eyes narrowed. "You have some nerve coming up to me like this! And you haven't even apologized for last night! Who do you think you are?"

"Whoa hey calm down Mattie, I'm really sorry about last night, seriously. My boss made me work over time." Gilbert smiled ruefully and scratched the back of his head. "I only just finished this morning." Mathew's eyes softened, changing from anger to pity. Good that meant that he had calmed down.

"I didn't mean to get angry but I had been really looking forward to last night. Plus every time you don't turn up my brother hates you more and more." Mathew sighed and let his hands hang by his sides. "Why didn't you at least call?" Gilbert winced.

"Boss doesn't let me take me my phone out when I'm on missions."

"Missions?"

"Uh you know, last night I had to go find something, didn't actually find it but that's the kind of thing I do." Mathew didn't looked convinced but luckily for Gilbert he didn't push it.

"Well I'm busy today... If you call by later with another apology maybe I'll consider going out with you again." Mathew smiled and adjusted his glasses. Gilbert stepped forward and pulled Mathew into a hug.

"I'm really very honestly sorry Mattie and don't worry I will come over later with a surprise just make sure that brother of yours isn't around when I do," He winked, resting one of his hands on Mathew's cheek. "I'm so lucky to have found someone like you Mattie." Mathew blushed and lightly slapped Gilbert's hand away.

"Alright charmer I have to get home now, those pancakes wont make themselves!" Gilbert ruffled Mathew's hair and nodded.

"Sure thing, hey maybe you could fatten Alfred up so he'll go to the gym. It's been a while since we've had some alone time together." He smirked and made thrusting actions with his hip. Mathew's face flushed a darker shade of red and he shooed Gilbert away with his hands.

"I'll do no such thing you adorable idiot! Now I really have to go." Mathew gave him a small hug and turned to leave. A thought sparked in Gilbert's mind.

"Um Hey Mattie? I got a uh report last night regarding someone who's escaped from prison recently." He regarded Mathew cautiously when he asked this.

"Oh?" The blonde's eyes widened slightly but barely gave anything away.

"Yeah, they say he can't talk and he's a little you know," Gilbert twirled his finger next to his head. "Wacky! Just so um... Watch out." Mathew chuckled and nodded.

"Ok I'll watch out for wacky mute criminals." Mathew rolled his eyes, in the back of his mind he thought of their strange visitor at home.

"I'm serious! Any ways if I keep you too long then that brother of yours will get mad right? So I'll see you later then." Gilbert kissed Mathew's forehead and started to walk away. He had to ask Francis if he could rest for a while and maybe get West to look instead. His brother always had been better at this kind of mission. The only thing that Gilbert was any good at was sharp shooting. Chasing after stray experiments that the sick Doctor made for fun wasn't his idea of a dream job. If Francis weren't working towards a goal that would benefit him, Gilbert wouldn't have stayed.

Mathew waved as he watched Gilbert disappear down the street. A criminal? Could the stranger that Alfred brought home be dangerous? Truthfully Mathew had never thought that he could be a criminal... He just looked so small and helpless. Though looks can be deceiving, Mathew had learned that from Gilbert. Well now he had his milk he could go back and make pancakes. Hopefully Alfred had showered and clothed him by now.

* * *

Alfred groaned and rubbed the side of his head. It was throbbing from where he'd hit it on the side of the shower. He couldn't feel any blood but he might have been mistaking water for the life giving liquid. Though whether he was bleeding or not wasn't the problem. Beneath him the strange man was shaking, his emerald eyes wide in fear. His hands were wrapped around his chest while Alfred's own hand was wrapped around his waist, holding him slightly off the ground. The angel was making small pitiful noises.

"Damn, damn, damn I'm so sorry, shit are you ok?" Alfred slowly pulled the man up from the floor and held him to his chest. "Come on, it's ok, you're not hurt... Well not hurt worse. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck!" He was babbling and he knew it. Alfred bit his tongue to allow his brain time to think. Apart from whimpering, the angel didn't appear to have anything else wrong with him.

Alfred gently lay him back down in the corner of the shower and gave him a reassuring smile. "It's ok, you can clean yourself now, ah-ah-ah-choo!" The force of the sneeze caused his glasses to fly off his face and land on the floor near the man. "Dammit all!" He cursed and squinted into the shower to find his glasses. The blur of the angel in front of him shifted then and moved closer towards him. He felt a pair of slender fingers slip past his cheek followed by warm, thin metal and then he could see again. The angel then returned to the corner. Alfred swore he saw a small smile for a split second before it disappeared.

"Not see... With not that?" He asked and pointed to Alfred's glasses. Alfred pushed them up the bridge of his nose out of habit.

"Umm if you mean that I'm blind as a bat without them, then yeah, can't see without my glasses, thanks!" Alfred grinned and stood up to find a flannel and soap.

"Bl-blind a bat?" A British voice asked. Alfred frowned and grabbed the flannel.

"Blind a bat? No, It's blind 'as' a bat." He grabbed the soap off the sink and walked back, kneeling down next to the shower. "Come on say it with me, blind..."

"Blind."

"As a..."

"Az-"

"As!"

"As"

"A..."

"A."

"Bat."

"Bat."

Alfred grinned. "Ok, now in a complete sentence... Blind as a bat." He prompted the angel who looked apprehensive.

"Blind as... A bat?" He tried nervously.

"Right!" Alfred smiled and ruffled the angel's wet hair and received a rather peeved look for it. "We'll work on pronunciation later but apart from that you got it right, good job." The American was pleased with himself for having taught the angel something. "Oh hey I never got your name."

"Name... Is A-Arthur." The angel nodded and pulled his injured wing around himself like a blanket. Alfred grinned and held out his hand.

"My name is Alfred F. Jones, and I'm sorry about earlier, it's just that it did take for ever to clean my room... And I guess that doesn't matter any more." He introduced himself again and scratched the back of his head however when he realized that Arthur wasn't shaking his hand he frowned. Arthur was staring at the hand, looking unsure. "You shake it, you know like this," Alfred reached out and grabbed Arthur's hand and shook it. "When you meet someone new you say your name and shake their hand." Arthur nodded and shook Alfred's hand. "Now let's get you clean!"

Alfred pulled his hand back and soaped up the flannel. "Ok give me your hand again." Arthur looked down at his hand before holding it out for Alfred who started to clean the dirt and blood off his skin. It was tough as Alfred found out to clean Arthur's skin thoroughly. He managed to get rid of most of the dirt and various other stains yet most of his skin was covered in cuts and bruises so it didn't look like he had made a difference. "Ok now the other hand."

This continued until Arthur was as clean as Alfred could make him. Even his hair shone brighter once it had been washed with shampoo and conditioner. The wings were the hardest to wash though as Arthur kept squirming and pulling them away. In the end Alfred got angry and crawled back into the shower just to wash them. "Quit squirming! I'm just washing them!" Alfred growled. Arthur glared back, his large eyebrows furrowed. They glared at each other in the shower until Alfred burst out laughing. "Sorry, but have you ever thought of shaving your eyebrows?" He poked one of the large brows and laughed again as Arthur's glare darkened. "Ok I'll stop now... I guess you're clean enough."

Alfred stepped out of the shower, ignoring his soaking wet pants and grabbed a towel. "You dry yourself with this," He tossed the towel on Arthur. "I'll go find you some clothes." Alfred decided to change his pants first, this way Mathew couldn't complain if he got water through the apartment. It was strange. It was his apartment yet Mathew cooked in and cleaned it more often then he did. It was like it was Mathew's apartment and not his.

Once in dry clothing Alfred raided his closet (and what was on the floor) for any kind of clothing for Arthur. It was hard because Arthur was a lot smaller then he and all his clothes were too... Big. Wait, Mattie was smaller then him. Alfred bounded into Mathew's room and searched through his closet. There he found a pair of grey, draw string pants, white singlet and a large blue jumper. "These will have to do till we get him something else." Alfred thought out loud as he walked back to his bathroom. On the way he saw a pair of underwear on the floor and blinked. "Oops, forgot to get him under wear." He picked up a pair of briefs with the American flag on them and added them to the pile of clothes in his arms.

When Alfred got back to the bathroom he saw that Arthur had tried to dry himself. A pile of wet bloody bandages lay on the floor next to him. "Hey got you some clothes," Alfred placed them on floor next to the angel. "Um I'll wait outside while you change then I'll redo your bandages ok?" He turned to leave but a hand grabbed his pants. Alfred looked down at Arthur who looked back with a confused expression.

"Help." He mumbled and looked away embarrassed. Alfred smiled and nodded, picking up the under wear.

"Ok lets get these one first." He said and held them out for Arthur to take.

* * *

Mathew pressed the button on the elevator for the top floor and waited. Gilbert had looked tired, like he had been out all night. He'd noticed how worn out the usually vibrant red eyes had seemed but had chosen not to say anything about it. Mathew wondered what Gilbert had been searching for that was so important. Had he been looking for their strange guest? Or was the mute criminal unrelated? He wasn't sure enough to tell but he would definitely mention it to Alfred. It wouldn't do to have a criminal in their apartment.

The elevator beeped indicating that he was at his stop. When the doors opened he rushed to the only door, knocked and waited. Alfred had been rich enough to afford a pent house in the city. It wasn't the nicest one but it was better then just an apartment. Mathew had moved in with his brother after the war finished, he hadn't had much money and needed a place to stay till he could afford his own home. Alfred didn't mind and even though they fought a lot, Mathew that knew that Alfred did care about him otherwise he'd have been out on the streets along time ago.

The door swung open to reveal a slightly wet Alfred. "Mattie you took longer then usual, you got the milk?" Mathew nodded and walked inside. The strange man was sitting on the couch in... Was that his clothes? Alfred saw the look on Mathew's face and explained. "Oh yeah, my clothes were too big for him so I figured yours would fit him... A little bit better then mine." He couldn't really argue with that plus the angel looked positively adorable in the large clothing.

"Ah, no it's fine" Mathew gave Alfred a smile and placed the milk on the counter.

"You two haven't been introduced yet! Arthur come here a moment." Mathew blinked and watched the angel, whose name was apparently Arthur, hop off the couch and walk over to him. "Ok do what I taught you earlier." Mathew raised an eyebrow at Alfred.

"And what exactly did you teach him." Mathew looked back at Arthur who was holding out his hand to him.

"Arthur." He said simply. Mathew took his hand hesitantly before shaking it.

"Nice to meet you Arthur, I'm Mathew Williams."

"Mathue Williamz." Arthur tried to repeat his name. Mathew smiled and let go of his hand.

"Close," He said. "But it's Mathew Williams, with an 's' on the end." Alfred grinned and ruffled Arthur's hair again. Arthur tilted his head to the side and pointed to Mathew's face. Mathew blinked and touched his cheek, wondering if he had anything on it.

"Blind as a bat?" Arthur asked. It took only a moment for Alfred to realize he was talking about their glasses. Mathew smiled and nodded.

"Yes, Alfred and I have weak eyes." He said and touched his glasses unconsciously.

"Arthur can't speak much but it's cute to hear him try." Alfred laughed and started to get the ingredients for pancakes out. Mathew looked back at Arthur who was standing at the edge of the kitchen, his face bright red. Mathew couldn't help but think he looked cute also.

"We'll help you learn how to speak then Arthur," He offered, smiling when Arthur's face brightened. "But you must be starving! So I'll start making those pancakes now."

"Pancakes...?"

Both the men turned to look at him, clearly shocked.

"You've never heard of pancakes?" Mathew pointed to a picture of them in his cookbook. Arthur peered at the picture and shook his head. Alfred gasped.

"Then that means he doesn't know what hamburgers are!"

"Or hockey!"

"Or coffee?"

"Or maple syrup!"

"Or ice-cream?"

"Or polar bears?"

"Or actions movies with hero's and damsels in distress?" Both brothers looked equally horrified at Arthur's lack of knowledge about the 'good' things in life. "Well what are we standing around for?" Alfred smacked his bare chest with his hand. "Let's get you some pancakes!"

* * *

"Is he strapped down tight?" Francis stroked his chin as he waited for Ludwig to finish. With one last grunt Ludwig stood up.

"Yes Doctor Bonnefoy," Ludwig wiped his forehead with sleeve. "The drugs should have taken affect by now too." Francis nodded, picked up a needle and approached the operating table. Ivan laid still, his throat looked like raw meat that had been mauled by dogs. The bleeding had stopped but the skin hadn't healed properly. He was surprised the subject could still breath properly after last night. Francis smirked and jabbed the needle none to gently into the patients arm.

Ivan didn't react to the needle being jabbed into his arm nor the large amount of blood that Doctor Francis took out. He was on the verge of blacking out from the blood loss anyways but his body was healing slightly too fast for him to do so. Francis took the needle out and labeled the blood sample. "Make sure he doesn't get up." Ludwig nodded and stood by the table while Francis disappeared into the next room.

He shut the door noiselessly and smirked. A figure sat in the middle of the room, completely still. "Wang Yao, subject one." He purred and took a step closer to the man. Yao tilted his head towards the French voice and opened a pair of old golden eyes. Yao was a small Chinese man that Francis had plucked from the streets along with his brother. His body was slight; his oily brown hair had been tied back into a loose ponytail and his skin was as pale as snow. Years of sitting in darkness did that.

"My brother... I wish to see him, please, I beg of you." Yao reached out to Francis. Francis smiled and pulled out another needle.

"Of course I'll let you see him, but not now, I need to take another sample." Yao held out his arm despite it shaking. Francis smirked and held the arm still, injecting the needle in the pale skin and taking his blood. "Good boy," The Doctor pulled the needle out of his arm and labeled this one too. "Just sleep now Yao, you'll see your brother soon enough." Francis left the Chinese man to sit in darkness once again. The thought of seeing his brother was the only thing keeping him alive.

Ludwig looked up as Francis approached. "Did you get it?" Francis nodded slowly.

"Wang Yao... The first test subject in the next series of soldiers." Francis picked up a clipboard and tapped it with his pen. "He has the best healing ability also the fastest recovery rate of all the test subjects. Not only can he heal skin at a faster rate but also he can absorb his blood back into his body, quite a useful feature non? His younger brother Im Yong Soo, subject two, failed. Although strong he didn't have the same healing ability that Yao possess. Expired two and a half years after the first tests from blood loss." Ludwig frowned.

"Then why haven't you told Yao that his brother is deceased?" Ludwig didn't see why the death of his brother would make a difference to the crippled experiment. In fact he thought it was quite cruel to let him live thinking that his brother was right next-door. Francis let out a deep breath.

"Because, if he found out then he'd most likely kill himself." He wrote down a few notes. "And his healing ability is the best we have, better then subjects three and four. Subject five had the same problem that Im Yong Soo had so we lost him too." Francis sighed and placed the clipboard down next to the needles. "I'm going to see if I can separate the compounds in Yao's blood and see which one increases his healing ability. When your brother returns tell him to come see me." With a wink Francis was gone leaving Ludwig in the operation room.

Ivan groaned from the table but didn't move. Ludwig sighed and rubbed his temples with his left hand. The subject on the table hadn't moved much since he'd been drugged and Ludwig doubted he'd be moving for a while. The dose had been four times large then what was needed for an adult male. Even Ivan's body would take a while to get over that amount.

Ludwig was intently watching Ivan on the table when the mobile phone in his pocket started vibrating. He pulled off his surgical gloves, fished the mobile phone out of his pocket and hit the talk button. "Ludwig here." He said into the receiver.

"West! It's me, listen I couldn't find his lordships precious experiment... Found some blood but I don't know if it's his." Gilbert's voice yelled through the mobile phone. Ludwig held back a frustrated sigh.

"Where are you?" He asked the seemingly logical question.

"Uh Just outside actually, I wanted to bring the sample back but damn unless someone's found him I don't think that subject seven is still alive." Gilbert laughed nervously over the phone. "Doc's not there is he?" Ludwig shook his head then realized that Gilbert couldn't see him.

"No, he's in the lab working on some blood samples... Are you sure you don't have any other leads? Has anyone seen him?" He looked back down at the semi conscious body on the operating table.

"No, It was too early in the morning for anyone to have been out, but I managed to talk to Mattie and it seems he's forgiven me." He chuckled in triumph. This time Ludwig sighed loud enough for Gilbert to hear.

"Gilbert," He said in a stern voice. "You don't have time to be flirting with that Canadian, we have a job to do." He heard Gilbert grunt. "I'll come meet you just outside the gates." And with that he hung up. His brother could be a pain to deal with but he was the only Family Ludwig had left. Gilbert had looked after him as a child after their parents had died in the war. That still didn't change the fact that his brother could be quite the ass most of the time. Sometimes he wondered how the Canadian put up with him.

Ludwig opened the door and gave Ivan one last look before shutting and locking it. Hopefully Francis wouldn't be back for a while. He hurried up from underground chambers of the laboratory to meet his brother.

It was cold outside as the snow fell fast and thick. Gilbert was indeed waiting just outside the gate, hugging himself for warmth. "West! There you are I've been freezing my balls off out here!" Gilbert was ever the gentleman. Ludwig sent him a venomous look.

"What were you talking about on the phone? You haven't found him yet?" He met with Gilbert's eyes. The white haired man sighed and looked at his snow covered feet.

"Told you I didn't find him, I found some blood on the ground not too far from here, from what I could tell, he fell into the tree and bleed out onto the ground a bit... But there wasn't a body." He chewed his lip. "Unless another scientist picked him up then the police have him, seriously I can't say for sure." Ludwig could feel his stress levels rising. This experiment of Doctor Bonnefoy's was turning out to be a major problem.

"I'll take the sample from you and test it against subject sevens blood and let you know... You should go home and get a few hours sleep and start looking again, I'll cover for you." Gilbert sent him a grateful smile.

"Thanks bruder, I owe you one... Actually I think I owe you a lot." He chuckled. Ludwig smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Take care Gilbert, I'll call you later and see how you're doing." Gilbert nodded and gave Ludwig the blood sample.

"Yeah, see yah West." They both departed from the laboratory; Gilbert headed back to his apartment for some shuteye while Ludwig returned to the operation room to find Ivan awake.

"Is he really... Dead?" Ludwig flinched but didn't answer the Russian. He didn't like talking to the subjects it made them appear more human then he could handle. Ludwig didn't enjoy what he did, but once in this business the only way out was death. There were secrets that he'd learned from working at the laboratory that could potentially cripple the American armed forces should this information be leaked to one of the defeated countries. For one, the information about the soldiers they were creating would be useful in making newer, better ones.

"Try and sleep, you'll need it." Ludwig muttered as he went back to his chair on the other side of the room. Thankfully, Ivan didn't ask any more questions so Ludwig was left to write up reports in peace.


	4. Atarashii fuku

Never was there a tastier food then pancakes in Arthur's opinion. Unless those pancakes were also covered in ice cream, and smothered in maple syrup. Truthfully, he had never expected the circle shaped food to taste any good, but in comparison to what he was being fed in the prison... He swore if angels were real they would eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch and tea every day of their lives. Unfortunately he had to learn the hard way not to eat fifteen pancakes in one go.

Arthur was currently curled up on what the brother's called a 'couch', groaning and clutching his stomach in pain. It was the opposite of the hunger pains he was used to. He could hear the taller blond, Alfred, laughing from his bedroom. When Arthur had started to whine about pain in his stomach, Alfred had lost it, laughing every time Arthur moaned. The smaller brother, Mathew, was a little more understanding, explaining to Arthur that he should only eat his fill and no more... Or he would feel sick again.

Mathew was washing the dishes, while Alfred was cleaning his room (still laughing), leaving Arthur to look around the room he was now in. Like Alfred's bedroom, this room was large and white, everything was white from the... Couch to the floor. Arthur stretched out an arm over the edge of the couch to touch the floor, smiling when he recognized the soft texture of Alfred's bedrooms floor. He was really starting to like these new floors.

A pair of feet came to stop by his hand, tapping in a frustrated fashion. Arthur slowly averted his gaze up to see Alfred looking down on him. "I cleaned it up, well, just got rid of the blood so it should still be... Ok to use," Arthur raised an eyebrow, confused as to what Alfred was talking about; till he saw the book in the other's hands.

"Book!" He gasped and lunged for it, grabbing it from Alfred's hand and hugging it to his chest, like it was the last one on Earth. It was technically his last memorabilia of Ivan, whom still resided in the evil filled prison. Arthur smiled as he opened it up to one of the pages, and began to read. "The Flopseey B-bunnies simpleey... simpleey stuffed lettoucez." He said out loud. Alfred, who had looked rather miffed, broke out into a grin.

"Gimme that, geez you've had this book forever and you can't even read it properly?" The tall blond held his hand out. Arthur looked at the hand then up at Alfred, then back at the hand. "Promise to give it back afterwards." Alfred said and rolled his eyes. Arthur narrowed his eyes and shyly gave him the book. His glare said break-it-and-you-die, which he hoped Alfred would understand.

Alfred opened the book at the beginning and sat down next to Arthur. "When you read a story you start at the beginning silly." He chided the Brit.

"Know," Arthur glared harder at Alfred, wishing he would stop treating him like a child. "Know that." Just because he couldn't talk didn't mean that he couldn't understand simple concepts. Alfred rolled his eyes again.

"Any ways, lets start, It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific'. Hey Mattie what does soporific mean?"

"It means something like... To be sleepy." Mathew answered from the kitchen. "Alfred, have you finished cleaning your room? And are your sheets out to be washed? They'll need bleach you know." Alfred sighed and dropped the book back into Arthur's lap.

"Sorry pal, Mother says I have chores to do, maybe you should try watching some TV." Arthur watched as Alfred grabbed a small black rectangle, pressed a button and turned on what looked like a large black window.

The color soon changed and showed two people dancing on the other side of the glass. Sound suddenly erupted from several black boxes scattered around the room, causing him to jump.

"Sorry, left the sound on a bit too loud last night!" Alfred rapidly apologized and hit a button on the remote continuously, until the sound was low. Arthur stared, memorized by the moving pictures behind the glass that were connected to the sound coming from the large black boxes. Alfred chuckled off to his side and he felt something else drop into his lap.

"This is called a remote, press any button on it and it'll change the channel, so just watch what you feel like till we're ready to go out." With that, Alfred left Arthur to finish cleaning his room.

Arthur felt a pang of guilt as he watched Alfred leave, but this was quickly replaced by curiosity to the new object in his lap. The 'remote' as hard and felt like plastic, but it was decorated in many soft buttons. He pressed the one that said 'two' and smiled as the picture changed, just like Alfred had said. He tried a few more buttons before the initial excitement began to wear off, and he started to pay attention to what he was actually changing it to.

He stopped on channel three to watch as a woman, with a man wrapped around her waist, walked down a snow covered street. The woman had intense eyes that seemed to stare at Arthur from behind the glass. The duo was strutting down the street, when they met a similar couple heading the opposite way. The woman in the second couple smirked at the first two, and kissed the man she was with.

Arthur frowned, was this how you greeted other couples when you met in the streets?

The second woman then proceeded to run her hands down the second mans stomach, resting near his crotch. The man was clearly enjoying this, while the first man looked distraught. "Wish you could have had this?" The second woman asked the first man, her voice low and lustful. The first woman was quick to react, stepping forward she harshly slapped the second woman across the face.

"Bitch!" She growled as she walked back to the first man. The second woman looked shocked and tried to retaliate but the man she was with restrained her, pleading that they go home. The first man smiled and kissed the woman's head.

"Thanks honey, you're the best!" He praised her actions as they walked past the second couple and continued down the street.

Arthur stared at the television, completely and utterly confused at the interaction between the couples. From what he could tell, the first woman was defending the first mans dignity from the second woman, who was trying to seduce both the first and second man... Or was that wrong? Was it Ok to slap someone who was being a... What did she say? A bitch?

He had just about had enough of the confusing show. Arthur picked up the remote again and pressed random buttons till a loud voice boomed on screen. "All the Nineteen ninety classics!" The man yelled and spun around in a sparkling suit. "Every day at noon!" Arthur leaned closer, if they were classics then they sounded interesting. They were about to get started on the first one when a small voice interrupted him.

"Sorry to disturb you but we're getting ready to go, so I need you to come with me so I can find you a pair of shoes to wear." Mathew was standing by the edge of the carpet, waiting for Arthur to follow. The blond stood and placed the remote next to his book before following Mathew into his bedroom.

He took in a moment to take in the smaller ones room. It was white and sterile looking like his brothers, but it was smaller and somehow, felt homelier. Mathew was busy pulling out shoes from his cupboard, which meant that Arthur could explore the room a little. The bed was the same but less soft, while the carpet felt exactly the same. The walls were covered in pictures of men wearing bulky clothing and waving sticks around. He touched one, outlining the name with his finger. "Ho... Hockee?" He said aloud. Mathew whirled around; a grin not unlike Alfred's covered his face.

"Hockey! The greatest sport I've ever watched!" He literally bounded over to Arthur, who shrunk from the now animated man. "I'll show you a game one day, it's really exciting!" Arthur noted how Mathew's eyes sparkled as he talked about his favorite sport.

"Oh right, I found you some shoes, come here I'll show you how to put them on." Mathew grabbed Arthur's wrist and tugged him over to the bed, sitting him down on the edge. "Ok, lift up your left foot." Arthur stared at his feet, and raked his brain trying to figure out which one was left. Mathew sensed his dilemma and picked up his left foot.

"This is your left foot," He said as he slipped a sock onto the small foot. Arthur wriggled his toes in the socks, liking how they felt. Mathew laughed as he pulled the shoe up and slipped Arthur's foot inside. "Ok, once you have the sock and shoe on you have to lace it up like this." He tied the shoelaces together and let Arthur's foot fall. Arthur stood up and tested how the shoe felt on his foot.

He hadn't minded the sock but the shoe felt almost constricting. He could feel his face contorting into a grimace. The Canadian sighed and beckoned him back over. "You may not appreciate shoes now but trust me, when you're outside in the cold you'll be happy you're wearing them." Arthur walked back over and let Mathew repeat the process with the sock and shoe.

"Wow! Who looks good?" A boisterous voice from the door way caused them both to jump in surprise.

"Alfred! Stop doing that!" Mathew glared at Alfred along with Arthur. "Have you finished cleaning yet?"

"Done and dusted! Sheets and blankets are in the wash and my clothes put away... again!" Alfred flashed them both a grin. "Now can we be off? We want to get there before the shops close you know!" He left the pair glaring daggers at his back as he retreated in the lounge room to wait. Mathew sighed again and smiled apologetically at Arthur.

"Please excuse Alfred, he has a... Big ego and a hero complex." Mathew explained. Arthur titled his head to the side. He was unsure about what an 'ego' was or what a 'hero complex' meant but apparently Alfred had both. Maybe he could ask him about them later. Mathew gave him another jacket to wear before they vacated his room to meet up with Alfred who was still waiting.

"Come on gramps! World war four will have come and gone by the time you two are ready!" He teased. Arthur could feel his anger levels rising every time the American opened his mouth.

"Alfred stop teasing!" Mathew opened the front door and stepped out. Alfred grinned and held it open for Arthur.

"Oh right, you might want these." Arthur watched as Alfred ducked back into his bedroom then promptly returning with two items. The taller man wrapped one around his neck and mouth while the second when went on his head, covering most of it. "A beanie and scarf to keep you warm... and hidden." He whispered the second part so softly Arthur wasn't sure he had heard him at all.

It just occurred to him that they would be leaving the second sanctuary he had found, and this thought caused a jolt of panic. Outside wasn't safe. What if he got shot again? What if someone from the prison recognized him? What if The Doctor saw him?

He hadn't realized that he had started to hyperventilate before Alfred grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard. "Arthur! Calm down! You need to calm down and breath properly alright? Come on breath with me." Arthur watched Alfred take a deep breath and let it out calmly and tried to do the same. The first couple of breaths came out shaky but the third was steady enough to reassure Alfred. Arthur felt the hands holding his shoulders slowly let go and fall to his sides. "Mattie and I will be with you, we'll look after you Ok?"

Arthur looked and fourth between Alfred and Mathew, who had walked back in when he heard the commotion. He nodded very slowly and closed his eyes. He could do this; he just had to trust that Alfred and Mathew would protect him if something bad did happen. Something touching his hand interrupted his thoughts. He looked down to see that Alfred had taken his hand into his own. The larger hand easily engulfed his own and warmed it up considerably. "I'm a hero, I promise that I won't let anything happen to you." Alfred gave Arthur's hand a squeeze.

"Pr-promise?"

"Promise."

Alfred was smiling, but it wasn't his teasing smile, it was a nice soft smile. It looked reassuring and reminded Arthur of... Ivan. Arthur smiled back and followed Alfred out of the apartment and through another door. Mathew locked the front door and followed the pair, sending Alfred a sly smile.

"Ok off to the shops!" Alfred declared, ignoring his brother and punching the air with his free hand.

xXxXxXx

"Ow!" Ludwig hissed as a solution was rubbed against one of his many cuts.

"Vee~ Sorry Ludwig, but it's going to sting no matter what i use." The small Italian man apologized. He dabbed the swab back into the solution, before starting on the next cut.

"It's fine Feliciano," The tough-as-nails German smiled and tensed, ready for the next sting. Feliciano tried his best to make it not hurt, but with all these deep cuts... He definitely didn't want his favorite person to die of a bacterial infection.

"Call me Feli~" He gave Ludwig his best pathetic smile and dabbed his cuts again.

"Ok... F-Feli." Ludwig gritted his teeth and held back a growl.

"Oh~ I could call you Ludi, ehh? That doesn't sound cute at all, vee! I got it, my colleague says German in Japanese is Doitsu! That sounds better doesn't it? Doitsu!" Ludwig could feel a vein on start to pulse on his forehead. The bubbly Italian was sometimes too much but he was quite skilled at first aid. Truthfully, he had never expected someone like Feliciano to work in a place like the laboratory, though to his knowledge, the Italian had no idea about the real experiments that happened there.

When Ludwig had asked why he chose the job there he had replied with his story. Feliciano told Ludwig about how his brother was stuck in Italy because of the war's aftermath, unable to get to America because he spoke no English, and how he was saving up to buy him a ticket to America so they could live together.

Ludwig felt somehow touched by the story and found that while talking to Feliciano could sometimes lead to a headache, it was also a welcomed distraction from the inhuman things he witnessed. Feliciano of course knew nothing about what happened downstairs; thinking that they were dealing with nothing larger then a dog or cat. Ludwig knew otherwise.

The reason why he was in the infirmary in the first place was thanks to one of Dr Bonnefoy's super soldiers. Subject three, one of the two females, was unusually aggressive. While Francis was content to draw blood from a weaker subject like Yao, Ludwig was left to draw blood from the wild ones. Both females had aggression problems, which Francis linked to the amount of testosterone they had to pump into their bodies. Subject three's official name was Natalia, and while she looked shy and innocent, she was the most violent one of the lot.

Natalia had managed to break one of her shackles that held her to the chair, while Ludwig had attempted to take a blood sample. Needless to say, the first thing she worried about wasn't her hair. With the help of two other guards Ludwig had detained her enough to get a sample but his arm had been badly cut up. Her nails were sharper then any knife.

"Vee~? Doitsu, you went all spacey." Ludwig blinked and returned his gaze to Feliciano who had finished cleaning his wounds and was smiling proudly. "Don't let that dog claw you up again, otherwise I'll have to use more ointment!" The joke was lost on the serious German who was eager to get back to his reports. He thanked the Italian under his breath before hurrying away.

Feliciano watched as Ludwig's back disappeared out of the infirmary and down the hall. "Mm Ludwig looks stressed... Maybe I'll make some pasta to relax him~" Inspired by the notion of pasta, Feliciano left his post to raid the laboratories kitchen.

xXxXxXx

Alfred felt invigorated! Excited! Downright happy! Not even the snow could dampen his mood as he dragged their newly acquainted angel down the street. Mathew was rushing to keep up with him, yelling something about slowing down for his and Arthur's sake but Alfred just wanted to run! Arthur looked unsure about the whole situation, but he clung to Alfred's hand tightly, keeping up with him easily.

"Hurry up Mattie! I know the perfect place!" The trio hurried down two more streets before they arrived at their destination. Mathew paused outside to catch his breath then took a look at where they were.

"You brought us to a surf shop?" He asked exasperated. Alfred nodded and grinned widely. He didn't even realize Arthur had let go and wandered off.

"Of course! This place has the latest fashion and everything! Now come on Artie, we'll get you fixed up in- Artie?" Alfred spun around, searching for the small blond. Arthur had left the pair in front of the surf shop, and walked to the next shop over. A shop full of vests, sensible pants and absolutely nothing fun!

"Looks like he's more interested in... Those kinds of clothes." Mathew commented as he left Alfred gawking at the angel.

"Vests? Is he serious? Man talk about old men clothes!" Alfred sighed loudly and followed Mathew to where a very excited angel was pointing to the clothes within. Alfred couldn't help but think Arthur looked like a child at that point.

"Drop it Alfred," Mathew warned. "Want to go try those on Arthur?" Arthur looked at Mathew with wide eyes.

"Try on?" The Canadian smiled and nodded.

"Yep, you can try them on to make sure they fit, now come inside with me," He held open the door so that Arthur could enter the store. Alfred pouted and reluctantly followed the pair inside. He just didn't want to catch a cold outside that was all. Once inside Arthur made his way over to a beige colored vest.

"Try on?" He asked Mathew and pointed to the vest. Mathew picked up a small and handed it to Arthur.

"You probably should get some pants with this... You would be a small in pants too... and one of these dress shirts would go with it nicely."

"Don't encourage him Mattie!" Alfred whined as he looked around the store in distaste. Mathew rolled his eyes and lead Arthur to the fitting rooms to change. The man at the fitting rooms showed Arthur to the first one and closed the door, leaving the blond inside by him self. Mathew walked back to Alfred, glad that Arthur was out of hearing range.

"He can choose what ever he likes Al, he might not have the same tastes in clothing but we need to make him comfortable." Alfred gave the fitting rooms one last glance before sighing in defeat.

"I guess you're right... But I will get him some decent clothes by the end of today!" Mathew gave up. There was no changing his brother's mind once he had made a decision. Arthur would just have to survive the ordeal.

After ten minutes Alfred started to worry. He had shown Arthur how to dress this morning... Kind of. Maybe he still didn't know how? "I'll just go check on him," He said to Mathew and made his way over to the fitting rooms. The man let him pass without any questions.

"Hey Artie? You Ok in there?" He asked and lightly tapped the door. The door slowly swung open (Clearly Arthur didn't know how to lock it) to reveal Arthur standing in the middle of the cubical, holding the clothes in his hands. Alfred smiled and stepped in with Arthur, closing and locking the door behind him. "Don't be alarmed, I'm going to help you ok?" Arthur nodded and held the clothes out to Alfred to hold.

Alfred held the clothes and watched as Arthur took off the scarf and beanie, shrugged off the jacket and pulled the jumper over his head with little difficulty. He vaguely wondered why Arthur hadn't just done this himself. It looked to him like he could, so why hadn't he? Arthur managed to get the tank top off without too much trouble but the moment they were off he stood looking up at Alfred expectantly. "Try on?" He asked again and pointed to the vest in Alfred's hands. Alfred blinked, Arthur's voice bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Uhh yeah, but you need to put this shirt on first." He held the white dress shirt out for Arthur to take. The dress shirt was a problem. While it would fit over the wing that had been tied to Arthur's side, it refused to cover the other one. The second wing would press to the side of his body but it twitched too much to not be noticed. Alfred frowned and chewed at his lip. "Hey Mattie?" The American called.

"Yeah?" Mathew replied from in the store.

"Can you get us a large size of the dress shirt?"

"Sure thing." Mathew footsteps faded for a minute or so before returning. Alfred turned to grab the shirt being shoved over the top of the cubical, before passing it to Arthur who had taken off the other one.

"Ok hopefully this one will fit." Alfred stated and once again watched Arthur pull it over his wings. This dress shirt fit better around his back but now look puffy around the sleeves. "Dammit!" Alfred swore, causing Arthur to flinch. "Sorry Artie, but these make things difficult!" Alfred patted the wings underneath the shirt and sighed. "I guess would could always get the small one and have it altered... My friend Kiku's younger sister does tailoring, I could always get her to make a hole for your wings..." While Alfred continued to contemplate how to get that task done, Arthur grabbed the vest from his arms and pulled it over his head.

They encountered the same problem with the vest as they did with the dress shirt, however, the shirt/vest combo didn't look too bad on the angel. 'It just seems to suit his personality' Alfred thought. Arthur then started to take off his pants. "Hey! W-what are you doin?" Alfred found himself blushing as Arthur pulled the pants back up, panicking.

"T-try on." He mumbled, embarrassed and pointed to the pair of pants that Alfred was holding.

"Oh! Oh um sorry about that," Alfred scratched back of his neck sheepishly and handed the pants to Arthur who had started to pull down his pants again.

"Alfred, whats going on in there?" Mathew asked from the other side of the door. Alfred laughed nervously from inside the cubical.

"N-nothing Mattie, just my mistake." Had he seriously thought that Arthur was stripping for him? No! Now way! He liked girls, big-breasted girls. Not men! Even if Arthur was cute... He was still a man, and men were off limits to the hero! Because the hero always gets the GIRL in the end, not the man.

Alfred laughed a bit too loudly at his strange thoughts and disturbed Arthur who was pulling up the black pants. The angel sent him a glare as he finished buttoning up the pants. When he was done, he stood awkwardly in front of Alfred and shrugged. "Hey those actually don't look too bad." Alfred smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "Hey Mattie check this out!"

Alfred opened the door to let Mathew see Arthur's new clothes. The angel looked down at his feet, shy about being seen by anyone else. Mathew smiled and pulled Arthur out of the cubical. "Doesn't he look handsome," Mathew said, though he was looking more at Alfred when he said this. Alfred frowned and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"He sure does, what would you think to getting it tailored to... accommodate his problem?" Mathew nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea, I remember there is a tailor not too far from our place. I think her name is Mei?"

"Yeah Kiku's little sister, she could do it... though we'd have to come up with a reason why..."

"I'm sure if we just explain it to them calmly... They'll understand." Mathew looked back at Arthur who was admiring himself in the large mirror at the end of the fitting rooms. Alfred smiled and beckoned Arthur back to where they were.

"So you like 'em?" He asked. Arthur nodded eagerly.

"Like them, very like them!" Arthur hugged himself and smiled. Alfred steered him back into the first cubical.

"Ok then we'll get them, oh Mathew? Can you grab him a couple of pairs... Just so we don't have to wash them every day."

"It's not like you do any of the washing anyways." Mathew muttered but left to comply with Alfred's request.

Alfred once again helped Arthur to change back into the clothes that he'd let him borrow. Arthur managed to get the scarf and beanie on himself, before they left the cubical to see that Mathew had already paid for them. "Aww thanks Mattie-" Alfred began but Mathew held a hand up to cut him off.

"I expect you to do more of your share of the chores from now on please." He stated in a low voice. Alfred took the bags and gave them to Arthur to carry.

"Sure thing, I don't mind." He smiled and held his hand out to his brother. Mathew gave him a suspicious look before shaking the hand. Arthur was watching them both interact curiously. "Hey Artie! Do you know how to thank someone?" Arthur huffed.

"Name Arthur!" He pouted and turned to Mathew. "Thank you." Mathew looked positively delighted by the thank you from Arthur.

"You're welcome." He smiled. Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Come on! We still need to get you some more clothes."

They didn't end up going back to the surf shop as Arthur refused to go near it. Instead they ended up in the most strangest place. A place that neither Alfred nor Mathew would have ever gone near, had Arthur not wanted to. Alfred stared at the teenage working behind the counter. He couldn't help but stare. Who wouldn't stare at someone whose face is covered in piercings, while their hair was colored purple and stood straight up? Mathew shook his shoulders and dragged him away from the grouchy looking boy to where Arthur was eagerly going through the t-shirts.

"I don't get it! He wouldn't go near the surf shop, but now we're in this gothicy, death shop and he's just as animated as he was in the stick up your ass shop!" Alfred complained.

"Al! I told you to leave Arthur's choice of clothing alone, if he wants to dress up in the dark scary clothes, then why not let him? It doesn't really hurt anyone..." Mathew was confused about Arthur's choice of clothing too but what could he do? This was just a way of finding out what kind of personality Arthur had... Though currently they were both still unsure.

"Try on!" Arthur declared happily as he grabbed a pair of black skinny leg jeans, a black and rep stripped top that said 'I'm a fucking pirate!', a black tank top with a picture of the cross on the front, and and black jacket with rabbit ears and profanities written all over it. Alfred and Mathew barely had any time to stop him before he disappeared into the change rooms.

"W-wait! Arthur did you still need help?" Alfred knocked on the door again.

"Nope." Came the reply. Alfred shrugged and went back to standing with Mathew. The boy at the counter barely glanced at the pair as they waited. To him they were both uninteresting.

Arthur was considerably quicker this time, opening the change room door in a matter of minutes. The brothers stared wide eyed, jaws slack at the sight. Arthur took a step out of the change rooms and posed in front of them. The black jeans clung to his legs perfectly, making them seem even more skinny, while the tank top hung slightly loose around his chest. His one good wing was partly opened behind him, giving the impression that he was a broken angel of some sort. Alfred opened and shut his mouth several times before he managed to get something out and even then he still didn't make sense.

"What? How could? How is that? Huh!" Arthur face fell at the response.

"Not like?" He asked timidly. Mathew recovered better then Alfred did.

"N-no! We like it! It's just so unusual, Alfred likes it though, honestly, he's just surprised." He looked at his brother who was still gaping at Arthur like a fish. Arthur's smile returned as he made his way back into to the cubical to try on the other shirt. "Alfred!" Mathew yelled once Arthur was gone. "Stop. Being. Such. A. Jerk!" With each word he gave his brother had whack to the head.

"I'm sorry!" Alfred whined when he finally came to. "He was just so hot lookin-" Alfred covered his mouth and looked away.

"Did you just say 'Hot looking? Come on Alfred, did you?" Mathew teased. Alfred turned back to him and glared.

"I did not! I uhh I said he was just so hot looking cause his face was red, yeah! Maybe he caught a cold and we should go home now ok? So let's just drop the topic completely." Alfred dismissed the entire conversation with a wave of his hand, and walked to the other side of the store to occupy himself. Mathew watched him leaved and chuckled. Who knew his 'hero' of a brother might like men too?

Arthur emerged with the same pants but the pirate top on instead. The affect was the same as last time though, this time his wings were hidden. Mathew remarked that this top could be tailored also if Arthur wanted it. Arthur smiled and went back in to try the jacket on. This time Mathew dragged Alfred back to the fitting rooms to witness it. The jacket completed the outfit well and Mathew took Arthur outside when he was done so that Alfred was left to pay for it all.

"That will be two hundred and fifty nine please..." The boy mumbled, sounding entirely too bored.

Alfred winced when he heard the price and muttered a few swear words beneath his breath as he pulled out his debit card. "Savings please." He said. When he returned outside Arthur was smiling at him.

"Alfred, thank you." He said and took the bags. Alfred watched Arthur return to walking with Mathew ahead of him, a warm fuzzy feeling entered his gut. Wait that wasn't right... Alfred shook his head violently and tried to ignore the soft feeling inside of him, and concentrate on the snow covered floor. He was not interested in Arthur like that, no way! 'The guy is an angel for god sake! Oh can't use the good lords name in vein.' Alfred quickly corrected his self. He had only ever liked girls. Not one boy in his entire life had interested him in that way. He loved his brother, but that was family love! He had never minded that Mathew was homosexual. In fact he supported them, but he wasn't one himself.

"Hey Al! Hurry up, we're going to get some food now." Mathew's voice cut through his thoughts, and made him look up where the two had stopped. Mathew was smiling while Arthur was frowning at him with those large eyebrows.

"Coming!" Alfred grinned and jogged to catch up with them.

"Now who's the old man?" Mathew teased him.

"Oh shut up! Where are we going to eat then?" Mathew paused and looked at Arthur who was looking at the snow.

"I hate to say it but how about McDonald's?" Alfred punched the air in victory and grabbed Arthur's hand.

"Come on! You have to try McDonald's!" Arthur held onto his bags tightly and tried his best to keep up with Alfred's long strides while Mathew jogged along side him. His day seemed to be picking up!

xXxXxXx

"I hope Ludwig likes this pasta I made~" Felicicano carried the bowl of steaming hot pasta to the down stairs door. There he pressed the button to the intercom. "Vee~ Ludwig! I have a surprise for you." He let go of the button and waited. The response was quiet and full of static.

"Uh, thanks Feliciano... I'll be up in a second."

"I told you, just call me Feli~" He said into the intercom. It buzzed once, as if Ludwig was about to respond then chose not to. In the distance he could hear a door scrap open then close and footsteps echoing off the walls of the staircase. Feliciano stood back from the door just as Ludwig opened it. "Here~ Pasta~" He held the bowl out to Ludwig who managed to look confused and pleased at the same time.

"Thank you, Feli." He muttered and took the bowl from his hands.

"You just looked so stressed I thought to myself, vee~ I bet pasta will help him relax~" The bubbly Italian was off in another world as he described the process of making the 'relaxing' pasta. Ludwig looked down at the bowl and realized that there wasn't a fork to eat it with.

"There's no fork." He said softly. Feliciano paused in his talk.

"Waaah! I messed it up! I'm sorry Doitsu! I'll return with a better dish!" Ludwig watched at Feliciano grabbed the bowl from his hands and sped off in the opposite direction crying. Now he really was confused... But he couldn't stay that way for long. He still had reports to write.

xXxXxXx

Alfred would have never expected to see her that day. Of course he couldn't have avoided Michelle for the rest of his life, but seeing her while with Arthur and Mathew... It was like he was being punished! Mathew had seen her too and, sensing his older brothers discomfort, had come to stand next to him. Arthur on the other hand hadn't noticed a thing. He was smiling happily and swinging the bags with clothes. Alfred felt a pang of annoyance that Arthur didn't care, but how could he when he didn't know who Michelle was?

He had always knew she was a slut. Deep down he knew this was the truth, yet he hadn't been able to say this aloud or admit it at all. Everyone else knew it too. Asking her to move in with him had been his biggest mistake, and also the best thing he'd ever done for himself. If she hadn't poured the drink on him at the bar, he'd had never been woken up to what she really was.

Unfortunately, just as luck would have it, she saw him. Their eyes met for the longest minute he'd ever experienced before she smirked. The evil in her eyes was evident as she walked towards him, another man in tow. Mathew grabbed hold of Alfred's arm and whispered in his ear. "Don't do anything rash!" Alfred nodded and put on his best smile as she approached. Arthur had stopped and stood slightly behind him, his eyes widened at the new person.

"Alfred darling~ It has been too long since i've seen you!" She sent him her best, most innocent smile. "How have you been keeping?"

"Pretty good if I do say so, and your self?" He asked, his eyes flickered to where Arthur was standing and his expression softened. He had only just realized that Arthur had placed a hand on his back, and was lightly grasping his jacket. Michelle smirked up at him, clearly she hadn't missed his change in expression when he looked at Arthur. Damn.

"Oh fine, fine, but who is this darling man? My what beautiful eyes!" She beamed. The man beside her frowned and nudged her lightly with his shoulder. Michelle continued to ignore him however as her eyes were too busy looking Arthur up and down. "What a cutie! You should bring him to the bar one night! I'm sure the girls would love to meet him."

'I'm sure they would.' He thought as he held back a sneer and moved to hide Arthur from her. There was no way he was letting her corrupt Arthur.

"It's getting late, we need to get back home Alfred." Mathew tugged at Alfred's arm, his face looked worried. Clearly Mathew didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Y-yes you're quite right," Alfred nodded. "Sorry Michelle, but we really need to be going now." Michelle pouted and turned to her current man, pawing his arm.

"Really Al, you were always a goody two shoes! Come out and play for a while and bring your friend! Your brother won't mind going home by himself right? Though I'm sure a faggot would know what to do by himself. Ass licker~" Mathew bristled and grit his teeth but remained quiet. It wouldn't do to get riled up by this woman.

Alfred had just about enough of Michelle. Insulting him was one thing but insulting his brother... Now he felt mad. He was ready to yell at her when she looked up at him, her eyes soft and full of hurt, just like when they had first met. The look stopped what ever angry words he had wanted to yell at her. "I really do miss you Alfred, you were always my favorite one." Michelle ran her hands over the new mans chest before letting them drop lower. The predatory smirk on her lips had returned. "Do you miss me Hero~?"

Slap!

Alfred had watched as Arthur stomped up to Michelle, and slapped her across the face.

"Bitch!" He yelled at her, his green eyes reflected furry and hatred. Michelle was so shocked that all she could do was stand there, utterly confused as her cheek started to turn red. Before Alfred could help him self he burst out laughing. The sight of Arthur, who was shorter then Michelle by at least ten centimeters, getting into a cat fight with his ex was just too funny. Even Mathew was trying to smother a chuckle as Michelle fumed at the trio.

"You'll regret that! Stupid... Stupid whore! Stupid big eyebrowed whore!" She shrieked at Arthur who continued to glare at her. She screamed in frustration and stomped her foot on the ground, grabbing her latest man. "Come on Bary!" They watched in hysterics as she dragged the poor man off down the street. Once they were gone Arthur turned around and glanced at them confused.

"What so funny?" He asked as he picked up his bags again.

"Oh Arthur! I think you're my hero!" Mathew gasped for air from laughing so hard. "I can't believe you stood up to the Queen bee!"

"God Arthur! You're too much!" Alfred grinned as he wrapped his arm around Arthur shoulders. "Come on! I say we get McDonald's to celebrate Arthur's triumph against the cold hard bitch!"


	5. Atarashii chōsen

Arthur stood holding his bags while Alfred held two brown paper bags filled with the food they called 'McDonald's'. Mathew was waiting by the door, smiling softly and writing a 'text' on what they called a 'mobile phone'. Arthur could see that Alfred wasn't pleased about the person Mathew was 'texting' but Mathew had glared and ignored him. Arthur was curious to know who had angered Alfred like the women earlier but decided it was better not to ask now.

In fact, the food in the brown paper bags had Arthur more curious then the mobile phone person. The smell they emitted was tantalizing and Arthur desperately wanted to taste the food inside them.

The elevator dinged as they reached the top floor and when the doors opened, Alfred ushered Arthur out into the hall while Mathew opened the front door. "You seem eager to have McDonald's there Artie." Arthur looked up at Alfred who held up the brown bags. "You're in for a treat! This stuff is even better then pancakes!" Arthur's eyes widened. There was something better then pancakes?

Mathew huffed from the doorway. "Better then pancakes? Hardly. Your head is so full of hamburgers I'm surprised it hasn't gotten fatter! Arthur, don't feel obliged to say you like McDonald's for Alfred's sake." Arthur nodded and walked into the apartment, feeling instantly better.

"Hey Arthur! Come put your stuff in my room ok?" Alfred dumped the brown bags on the counter and dragged Arthur into his bedroom. "I'll make some space in the closet for you to put your clothes." The tall blond started to rummage around his walk in closet. Arthur stood in the middle of the room holding his bags, unsure of what Alfred meant. He watched as Alfred pulled out some shirts and placed them on the bed and then repeat the process. "Come on! Get your clothes out and I'll put them on hangers." Arthur blinked and opened his bags, peering into them at the clothes he'd gotten.

"Put clothes on hangers? Like those?" Arthur pointed to the shirts Alfred had tossed onto the bed. Alfred nodded.

"Yeah like those. Hey that sentence sounded better." Alfred smiled and stepped closer to him. Arthur realized it had sounded better too and returned the smile.

"Speak like you." He said and pointed to Alfred who had mysteriously turned red. Arthur frowned and looked down at his finger. Did it have the power to make people turn red? No that seemed silly. However with his background it could be possible. Arthur decided to test the theory later, for now he'd learn to hang clothes up.

"O-ok Arthur, to hang your clothes up, just grab a hanger like this," Alfred pulled a shirt off one of his hangers and picked up one of Arthur's dress shirts, slipping the hanger into the neck and chest area. "Then you sling it on like this, easy!" Arthur watched Alfred intently and then proceeded to copy. "There! Told you it was easy." Alfred smiled and handed Arthur another hanger. "This is how you put pants on a hanger." Arthur felt intrigued by the different method and copied Alfred's actions eagerly.

"Hey Alfred! Kiku's on the phone." Mathew called from the other room.

"Coming! Keep hanging up your clothes Arthur, this'll take a second." Arthur held his shirt tightly to his chest as Alfred left. Who was Kiku and how was he on a phone? Arthur peeked out of Alfred's bedroom door to see Alfred speaking into a mobile phone and he looked happy, really happy. Arthur frowned and turned back into the room feeling dejected and something else but he couldn't think of a word for it. While he was busy thinking he missed Alfred saying goodbye to Kiku and walking back to his room.

"Hey Arthur! You haven't finished yet?" Arthur glared at him and walked over to his clothes ignoring the blond. "Whoa, what's wrong with you?" He wouldn't answer him, no he wouldn't. "What brought this on?" Alfred didn't seem like he was going to give up but Arthur had been through torture. He could beat Alfred.

Alfred was frowning now; he didn't look pleased. "Well what ever then, I'm heading out to work now so bye." Arthur blinked and turned around but Alfred was gone. Bye? He was leaving? Arthur hadn't known! He ran out of the room to see Alfred slam the front door. Mathew was standing confused in the hallway.

"Eh?" He mumbled before turning to see Arthur. "Do you know what that was about?" Arthur swallowed and nodded slowly. Now he was feeling guilt. Mathew didn't get angry though; instead he walked over and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about Al, he gets a little moody from time to time, I don't think seeing Michelle helped but wow! You giving her a good old slap was sure to make him feel at least a little better."

"Mathew, who Kiku?" Arthur asked, the dress shirt still in his arms. Mathew raised and eye brow and steered Arthur back into Alfred's bedroom.

"He's a small Japanese man who works with Alfred as a nurse. They work together to perform surgery with a few other people." Mathew explained as he grabbed one of Alfred's hangers and hung Arthur's clothes up. Arthur noticed this and started to continue.

"Alfred works to fix person?" Arthur asked tentatively.

"Yes, Alfred works to fix _people_. He's a brain surgeon though sometimes he does other surgery too." Arthur absorbed the information and slunk down to the soft floor.

"Hate me now?" He asked quietly. Mathew frowned and sat down next to him.

"Of course he doesn't hate you! Why would he-? Even if you guys had a disagreement I doubt he could actually hate you. As your rescuer and doctor he's responsible for you." Mathew gave his arm a squeeze. "Trust me, when he gets back from the hospital he probably won't even remember why he was angry. Now forget your clothes we have hamburgers to eat."

Arthur felt slightly better at Mathew's words, after all, the two brothers seemed to fight all the time but they always stayed friends in the end. Maybe Mathew was right and when Alfred got home Arthur apologize and everything would be ok again. He stood up with Mathew, leaving the rest of his new clothes on Alfred's bed and returned to the kitchen. "Ok, I think Alfred got you a Cheese burger and chips and this chicken burger is mine." Mathew muttered more to himself then to Arthur. He handed the small wrapped up burger to Arthur before unwrapping his own. "Like this." Mathew instructed him. Arthur gently peeled back the paper to reveal the small burger within. It smelt good.

He very slowly had a bite of the burger, chewing and savoring the new flavors. It was good! Arthur swallowed and took another bite, barely containing his joy for the new food. Mathew laughed and dug into his own burger. "Just don't eat too many of these… They taste nice but they aren't good for you." Arthur nodded and took another bite. All the food tasted better here.

"Taste better... Than m-mold." Arthur mumbled as he took another bite. Mathew gaped at him.

"Mold? You had to eat mold? That's terrible!" Mathew put his own burger down. "Why did you have to eat mold? ... Where did you live before Alfred found you Arthur?" Arthur stopped eating and looked down at his hands.

"D-don't know... Always dark, always..." He dropped the forgotten burger on the floor before hugging himself. "Always screaming, sometimes silence... Then Doctor... He... He made me scream... It hurt... Ivan!" Arthur looked up at Mathew, his eyes wide and frightened as if he had been returned to the prison. Mathew was quick to react, grabbing Arthur by the shoulders and squeezing them hard till he calmed down. Arthur leaned forward and clung to Mathew's jumper, holding on to it like a lifeline. "Don't want go back! But Ivan there! I want... I want to help Ivan... Ivan friend for always..." Arthur shuddered as he tried to repress tears that were threatening to fall.

"There, there..." Mathew said in a soft, soothing voice. "We will help... Ivan, but first we need to help you eh? We'll make sure that you can fly again and then we'll help Ivan." Arthur nodded numbly, still holding back his tears. Mathew wrapped his arms around Arthur, giving him the hug that he needed. Arthur felt grateful to the younger brother for doing this for him. He was actually starting to feel better.

_Knock, knock, knock. _

"Yo Mattie! It's the awesome me! I got a surprise for you!" Arthur blinked and looked up at the door while he felt Mathew tense beside him.

"Ah b-be there in a minute, I just need to clean up!" Mathew grabbed the food, including the burger on the floor and threw it away. Arthur watched confused as Mathew panicked. "Quick! We need to hide you!" Mathew whispered as he grabbed Arthur's hand and dragged him into Alfred's room. "He shouldn't come in here but just to make sure, please stay hidden in the closet." Mathew gave him a pleading look. Arthur wasn't sure how to react to the sudden events but nodded all the same. "Thank you so much!" Mathew smiled and closed Alfred's bedroom door leaving Arthur alone.

He could hear the front door opening followed by cries of 'Maple!' and 'Sexy little Canadian~' Not that he really understood what the combination of words meant. All he knew was that someone different was here and he was supposed to stay hidden. The new voice strayed close to Alfred's door causing a jolt of panic to flare in his mind. Arthur decided to follow Mathew's instructions and hide in Alfred's closet. From Mathew's reactions, he deduced that if he was found he would get in trouble.

He quickly shut himself in the closet, a brief feeling of relief when the voice drifted away. He was safe for now. Arthur felt around the closet, finding Alfred's clothes all on hangers. Once he had a bearing of his surroundings, Arthur sat down and thought. From what he could tell, he had two options. One, he could stay awake and wait for the strange man to leave or two; he could make a makeshift bed and sleep. The second one sounded more appealing to the blond so he eagerly started pulling some of Alfred's clothes off the hangers to make a bed.

Arthur really did miss his rag bed from his cell. Truthfully it wasn't the cleanest bed or the best smelling but it was comfortable... And familiar. As much as he liked his new home it was still not quite... Homely. Arthur studied the newly made Alfred clothes bed on the floor and smiled. _'It will have to do_' he thought as he snuggled into one of Alfred's shirts. At least it was soft like his last bed and it smelled... Considerably better. It wasn't long till sleep found him and carried him off to another world where the sun still shined.

* * *

Mathew had felt nothing but worry when he heard Gilbert at the door, their conversation from the other day repeating itself in his head. He could not imagine what would happen if Gilbert found Arthur in Alfred's apartment. Even if he weren't the man Gilbert was searching for he still would have had to explain the wings, which would have been difficult in it self. Arthur seemed fine with hiding in Alfred's closet thankfully, which made Mathew worry less. As long as Gilbert didn't go into Alfred's room he should be fine.

When he opened the door he was greeted by not an apologetic Prussian but by a large white polar bear. The large bear was thrust into his arms without warning. "Maple!" He cried in surprise while Gilbert laughed.

"Well my sexy little Canadian, what do you think of my apology present?" He beamed; looking rather pleased with him self. Mathew put the giant stuffed animal down and wrapped his arms around Gilbert's neck.

"I think I've forgiven you." He smiled and gently laid a kiss on his boyfriend's cheeks. Gilbert smirked and lifted him up, earning another cry of 'Maple!' from the shorter blond.

"You're just so cute! Oh I also brought you something else." Gilbert gently put Mathew down and started to walk towards the kitchen. Mathew closed and locked the front door before picking up his polar bear and following Gilbert.

"Oh? And what would that be?" He asked curiously. Gilbert rummaged through his bag before pulling out a large bottle.

"Pure Canadian maple syrup!" He grinned and held the bottle out for Mathew who took it eagerly.

"I think I've fallen in love again." He joked and opened the cap on the bottle. Mathew inhaled the scent deeply, loving the sweetness and authenticity of the syrup. America never did quite get the flavor right.

"I hope it's with me, 'cause this is just phase two of my apology plan!" Gilbert snaked his hands around the Canadians waist and pulled them close together. "That obnoxious, slovenly brother of yours isn't here is he?" He motioned to the closed door. Mathew, who was surprised that Gilbert knew a word like 'slovenly', shook his head.

"No, he got called in to work not half an hour ago. So we should be alone for the rest of the evening." In the back of his mind he thought of Arthur but couldn't let Gilbert on that he was distracted. "S-so was this the evening you were after?" Gilbert leaned in and brought their lips together for a chaste kiss.

"Precisely the evening I was after." Gilbert growled hungrily against his lips, the Prussians hands slipping down to grope his behind. Mathew blushed and returned to favor, groping his lover's behind earning him a smirk. "Now that's what I fell in love with." Mathew felt Gilbert tugging him towards the couch.

"N-not the couch! Al will know!" Mathew protested but Gilbert who pulled him down on top of him ignored it.

"He won't know! Just let the awesome me lead." Mathew squeaked as he fell on top of Gilbert, his face heating up again.

"Trust me... He can smell your presence." Mathew muttered, just thinking about it made him want to do it on the couch more and more. "Ok, he can live with it." He brought his lips down onto Gilbert's who eagerly returned the kiss. Mathew felt a tongue slip across his lower lip, asking for entrance. Usually Gilbert would barge into his mouth but he was being gentle. Perhaps he was still in 'forgive me' mode.

Mathew was more then willing to let him in. The warm muscle slid past his lips to explore his mouth with as much vigor as when they had first met. Mathew moved his own tongue against Gilbert's, his body feeling hotter and hotter. "Mmn-ah Gilbert." He moaned into the others mouth. Gilbert slipped his hands under Mathew's jumper and shirt, sliding his hands along the others warm skin. Mathew flinched as the cold hands touched his bare skin. He pulled away from the kiss to breath, a small trail of saliva connecting them. "You're hands are freezing!" Gilbert smirked and ran them up Mathew's chest.

"Well I'm working on warming them up right now." He murmured seductively, breathing warm air onto the sensitive hairs on Mathew's nape. "Then we can really get down to business~" Mathew shivered and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the Prussians hands over his body. They explored the familiar curves of his chest before coming up through his clothes and cupping his face. "You're just so cute, you know that?" Gilbert leaned forward and kissed Mathew on the nose before moving lower for something more fun. "And so hard~" He was enjoying making his sexy little Canadian gasp.

Mathew opened his eyes to frown down at Gilbert before making a move of his own. His spare hand drifted down to the silver haired mans pants, rubbing the Prussians hard on through the denim. "I think I found you as well." He felt a small smile appear on his face as Gilbert's breathing started to get a bit heavier. "Sir, how big are you exactly?" He teased. Gilbert smirked and rolled them over so he was on top.

"Would you like another taste of my fabled five meters?" He whispered into Mathew's ear. Mathew nuzzled the mans neck and let out a breathy 'Yes.' "Mmm alright then." Gilbert then began to tug Mathew's jumper and shirt off, leaving his chest bare and free to access. Then Mathew did the same for Gilbert, enjoying the feeling of the Prussians muscles under his fingertips. Once they were both partly naked Gilbert brought his mouth back down onto Mathew's and they mixed tongues again.

_Ding, ding, ding... _

"Just leave it," Gilbert growled against Mathew's neck. He hadn't had any thoughts of getting it himself.

_Ding, ding, ding... West calling... Ding, ding, ding._

Mathew rarely saw Gilbert move that fast to get his phone. The Prussian dug through his pockets till he found his phone and flipped it open. "Bruder! How nice of you to cal- There was a what? You need me back now? Can't I go bac- Ok fine now then? You know the awesome me doesn't appreciate- the bastard hung up on me!" Gilbert slammed his phone shut angrily and started to put his shirt and jacket back on. "I'm really sorry Matt but I have to go back to work, there was an accident and they need me."

"Oh no that's fine." Mathew said but he couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice. Gilbert walked over and pulled Mathew up into a tight hug.

"I'll try and get free time tomorrow... It doesn't matter what time but I'll come over and we'll pick where we left off ja? I wouldn't won't you to die of loneliness now." He gave the Canadian a kiss on the head, then cheek and finally lips. Unfortunately he couldn't make it as long as he wanted. "I'll call you again later..." Mathew frowned as Gilbert's attention was brought down to something on the coffee table. "Wow that's uh... A really dirty book, where did you find it?"

Mathew felt panic swell up in his chest. "Al found it on his way home the other day, don't know why he'd keep something so dirty but that's what he did..." He had completely forgotten to hide the book. Gilbert picked it up and opened one of the pages.

"Old book huh? If only the real world looked this good..." His red eyes hardened. Hadn't subject seven been obsessed with a book very similar? And the blood and dirt stains made it all the more suspicious...

* * *

* * *

"Well, I'll ask Al if you can have it when he comes home eh? I guess you should be going to work now or Ludwig will get mad again." Mathew fought the urge to push Gilbert out the door. He didn't need his boyfriend to be suspicious that they were hiding the stranger behind his back… Even though they were. Gilbert looked like he wanted to argue but the prospect of fighting with his brother again wasn't one he looked forward to, especially if Bonnefoy got involved.

* * *

* * *

"Yeah you're right, Ok, catch you later Matt," Mathew smiled and led him to the door.

* * *

* * *

"Love you Gil!" He smiled.

* * *

* * *

"Love yah too Matt!" Gilbert smirked and gave him one last pat on the bottom before disappearing out the door. Mathew heaved a sigh of relief once he had the door closed. That had been far too close for comfort. Now that Gilbert knew the book was there he'd be extra suspicious and that was the last thing he needed.

* * *

* * *

Mathew walked back into the living room to put his clothes back on and look at the book. It was indeed very dirty even though Alfred had tried to clean it. One of the pages fluttered out and landed on the floor. Mathew picked it up and studied the smudged text. "The Flopsy Bunnies dreamt that their mother was turning them over in bed." He read aloud. 'Sounds like a pretty cute story.' Mathew thought as he put the page back into its place and placed the book down on the coffee table.

* * *

* * *

_Beep! Beep! Beep! _

* * *

* * *

He jumped as the washing machine went off, signally the end of its cycle. He had forgotten about Alfred's dirty sheets. Well at least it was something to do. Mathew walked into the laundry and pulled the sheets out, examining them; pleased when he couldn't find any bloodstains. At least something had gone right. He moved the sheets and pillowcases to the dryer and turned the dial onto hot. This way he could have them done and on Alfred's bed before he got home. Then he couldn't begrudge him having Gilbert over earlier.

* * *

* * *

His thoughts returned to Arthur who was still hiding in Alfred's room. He quickly made his way back there and opened the door quietly. Arthur wasn't in the immediate room so he decided to try the closet. "Hey Arthur? You in here?" He whispered as he slide open the closet door. Arthur was in the closet and, much to Mathew's amusement, wrapped up in some of Alfred's clothes. _'Well as long as he's sleeping…' _Mathew silently closed the door and left the room. He returned to the couch and switched the television on while he waited. There wasn't much he could do till they were done and Arthur looked like he needed as much sleep as he could get. Mathew made a mental note to ask him more about the place he had come from when he woke up. Until then he was content watching the news.

* * *

Honda Kiku was one of the top surgeons at the cities General Hospital. Unlike Alfred, he worked everyday and did more then just surgery on the brain. He was a quiet, reserved man of Japanese nationality who worked dutifully and quickly to get the job done. However none of this brought any happiness to the Japanese doctor because the man that Kiku loved dearly was too oblivious to notice. Alfred F. Jones, top brain surgeon and highly sought after was probably the densest man he'd ever met. Kiku continuously asked himself how he had fallen for such a man but whenever Alfred flashed his baby blue eyes and shot him one of those heroic grins all doubt fled his mind.

The only obstacle between them was that Alfred was heterosexual. When they had first met Kiku felt nothing but admiration for the esteemed surgeon but as they began to work together more and more, those feelings grew into something more. The American's happy-go-lucky attitude was contagious and welcome to the hospital after the war. He perked up not only the employees of the hospital but the patients as well.

Kiku soon found out that Alfred's younger twin, Mathew was gay and open about it. They often visited the gay district together till Mathew met Gilbert then he stopped coming. He mentioned something about not wanting to feel like he was cheating on his new boyfriend. Fortunately, Kiku had learned a lot about Alfred through Mathew and used that information to strike up a conversation with the blond doctor. It had been very, very awkward.

"_E-excuse me Jones-san, I-"_

"_Ah! You're that Asian doctor, nice to meet you! Names Alfred F. Jones!" A winning smile._

"_I-I know your name Jones-san, I was wondering if you-"_

"_Well aren't you going to tell me your name? Ah wait! You're... Kuku? Kiku? Yeah! Kiku right?" Kiku felt his heart skip! He knew his name!_

"_H-hai! I was w-wondering if you would join me for afternoon tea tomorrow?" _

"_Why tomorrow? Why not today, I'm not busy unless you are?" Kiku felt his heart skip higher. _

"_N-no! I'm not busy now, s-shall we?" _

"_Ok! But only if we go to McDonald's, nothin' better!" Kiku nodded. He was just glad to be spending time with him. _

"_I do not mind, Jones-san."_

"_Don't bother with the 'san' thing, just call me Alfred!" _

"_Alright, A-Alfred." _

That had been a day to remember. Then the worst happened.

When Alfred started going out with Michelle Kiku had been crushed. Not only had he started dating someone but Michelle was a well known, for lack of a better word, slut. Even the gay community knew to keep away from her. The moment he realized that he could never have Alfred, Kiku made up his mind to watch over him as his best friend. It hurt but... It was worth it.

The night Alfred had called him, distraught and angry, Kiku couldn't have been happier. He also felt disgusted with himself for feeling happiness at Alfred's unfortunate awakening to Michelle's true identity. Alfred had talked to him for hours over the phone as he listened patiently to the blonds' troubles adding a soft grunt every so often. The next day they'd hung out at Alfred's apartment and watched the old superhero movies that Alfred was so very fond of. Every moment spent with the American was one he treasured. Although Alfred smiled at him when they parted that evening he could still see the sadness and betrayal in his eyes and he had felt useless.

He was finally getting to see Alfred for the first time in a week since the break up. A patient had come in with a large splinter stuck in the side of his cranium. The man who had brought him there was a stiff looking German who told the hospital that it was an accident that happened at their laboratory; a small explosion and nothing more. Then he left despite Kiku offering to see to his injuries. "My own doctor is quite capable to take care of these." He had said and left. Kiku didn't question the German and immediately called Alfred. This would be right up his alley.

To say that Alfred sounded happy on the phone would have been an understatement. He sounded positively radiant, like when he had first started working there. "Alfred-san, a patient just arrived that needs your attention."

"Really? I'll be down there asap! And Kiku, what did I say about the name?"

"R-right, Alfred, sorry." Kiku unconsciously slipped some of his hair behind his ear. "Well... Just be quick ok?"

"Aren't the heroes always quick?" Kiku could feel the grin through the phone. "Alright, see you soon Kiku."

"Yes, bye Alfred-sa- I mean Alfred." The American laughed before hanging up. He had actually laughed. Kiku had been waiting for the day that he'd completely get over Michelle. Soon he would see the smiling American face that he remembered, the one he'd fallen in love with. The Alfred that stalked up to the hospital doors was not the one he was expecting.

"Alfred!" He rushed over and frowned. "Pardon me curiosity but what's wrong? You seemed much happier over the phone. Where's your bomber jacket?" Alfred's expression softened as he signed in at the front desk.

"It's nothin' much, my bomber jacket's in the wash and uh... New roommate was just giving me a bit of grief is all." Now that was new.

"I didn't know you had another roommate. Did Mathew find his own place?" He asked as they walked down the corridor to the operating room.

"No, no Mattie's still there... Well... We just got him." Alfred adjusted his glasses and quickened his pace. "He's just a little hard to deal with." A him. Kiku swallowed his jealousy quickly.

"R-really? What is his name? Maybe I know him." Alfred chuckled.

"I doubt it, his name is Arthur and he's kinda new to town... I'm looking after him till he can find his own two feet." Kiku nodded, listening to the information and keeping it for later. He didn't know anyone by the name of Arthur nor had he heard of anyone new coming to town. He wanted to find out more but they were at the operation room and now they needed to concentrate. "Well time for work, eh Kiku?" Alfred smiled down at him. 

"Yes, time to work." Kiku returned the smile.

* * *

**Uh yes :D Cool another chapter! Sorry it took so long, I got back from holidays about a week and a half ago and started working on something else… The next chapter will be shorter so I should have it up soon. And there's a tad of PruCan in there for you guys… And another complication! enjoy~**


	6. Naitomea inaka de

While Arthur slumbered, he dreamed. He dreamed of a small forest, far in the countryside where the sun shined continuously over the green crisp landscape. A light breeze tickled his nose, forcing him out of his nap. He paused, sniffing the air, before hopping to a nearby bush. Wait, he had just hopped.

Arthur looked down at himself to discover he was a rabbit! He grabbed at his ears to find long but soft rabbit ears. He turned to look behind him, sighing when he saw that he still had wings even though it was a dream and he was a rabbit.

Rustling from the other side of the bush caught his attention. Arthur slowly crept up on the other side, ready to peek and see who was making the noise when a blond blur jumped out over him. He stumbled back and curled up under the bush. The blond blur was soon followed by a white one and they both stopped just short of him. When Arthur looked up he recognized the pair immediately.

"Ivan! Alfred!" He hopped over to them, happily sniffing their scent. "What are you doing here?"

Alfred sat up and sniffed the air around him. "It's your dream silly, otherwise we wouldn't be rabbits... And you wouldn't be able to talk so well."

"Da, that's right подсолнечник." Ivan hopped closer to him, nose twitching. "Anything can happen in dreams." Arthur sniffed Ivan's cheek and smiled.

"I'm just happy I get to be with you too." He admitted. Ivan chuckled and sat up while Alfred's stomach grumbled.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the food is in here would you?" Arthur shook his head.

"Sorry... This is sort of my first dream." Alfred gasped.

"Only your first? Oh well, if we look around we should find some." Ivan grunted in agreement. The trio began to follow a natural path through the woods, admiring the various flora and fauna as they went. After a little while Alfred stopped in front of them. "Can you smell that?" He asked. Arthur frowned and sniffed the air but couldn't smell anything.

"What? What can you smell?"

"I smell it." Ivan said, his nose twitching more. Arthur's frown deepened.

"I still can't smell anything!" He grumbled. Alfred and Ivan laughed, like they were sharing an inside joke.

"It doesn't matter, just follow us." They said. Arthur didn't want to be left behind so he followed them to a small man made ditch. In the ditch was an assortment of paper bags, jam pots, grass clippings and rotten vegetables. "There!" Alfred pointed out a small pile of over grown lettuces in the corner. It was then that Arthur started to feel fear pit in the bottom of his stomach.

"I don't think we should eat those..." He said but his worried were ignored as Alfred and Ivan both hopped merrily to the pile and began to eat. Arthur hopped down to join them but somehow it felt wrong. "This isn't right." Again, the two other rabbits ignored him. "Ivan! You shouldn't eat those! They'll make you sleepy! Alfred! Please stop!" The two rabbits continued to eat the lettuces, oblivious to any kind of danger.

Arthur paced (Or hopped) around till he could take it any more and jumped on Alfred's back. The blond rabbit shook him off easily and continued eating. The same thing happened when he jumped on Ivan. "Please stop!" He begged once more. This time he received a response.

"You should eat some too! These taste so good!" Alfred said through a mouthful of lettuce.

"Da, подсолнечник you should eat, you look too thin." Ivan actually paused from eating to tell Arthur this but turned back the moment he had.

"No! The lettuce will make you sleepy-!" Arthur realized that his dream was following the story he loved so dear. So if it was following the story then they were going to fall asleep and be caught by Mr. McGregor! With renewed vigor, Arthur tried to pry them away from the lettuces again but still to no avail. It seemed like it was inevitable that they would eat till they slept.

Arthur climbed out of the ditch and kept look out for Mr. McGregor and his sack. When he looked down Ivan and Alfred had both curled upon the grass clippings and fallen asleep. He sighed; it was almost time.

Just then a mouse came bounding up onto the wall next to Arthur. It had blond fur, a long tail and bright violet eyes. "Mathew!" He shouted. The mouse winced and nodded.

"Y-yes it's me." He whispered. "Keep your voice down, he's coming!" Arthur shuddered in fear.

"Mr. McGregor?" He asked. Mathew shook his head sadly.

"If it wasn't you then it would be... But quick! You must hide!" Before Arthur could ask what he meant by that, Mathew had scuttled away and hid under a bush. Arthur looked around the ditch, searching for something to hide under when he spotted a box and dove underneath. Not soon after he heard footsteps accompanied by a cheerful whistling and when he spoke it was the voice Arthur feared most.

"Ah! Un, deux! Deux lapin!" The Doctor's unmistakable voice floated through the air. Arthur felt panic swell up in his chest as a tell tale thump alerted him to the Doctor's presence in the ditch. He slowly peeked out from under the box to see the familiar French face picking Alfred and Ivan up by their ears and grinning madly. "You will both make for a delicious stew~" He smirked and stuffed them into a sack before throwing the sack over his shoulder and retreating back to his house.

Arthur jumped out from under the box and followed after the Doctor as quickly as his small legs could carry him. He hadn't left the sack outside like in the story so Arthur couldn't switch his two friends for old vegetables. He crept up to the open window and listened to the sounds from within.

"Arthur! You must leave or he'll catch you too!" Arthur jumped as Mathew appeared beside him again. He glared down at the mouse.

"I can't leave! He has Alfred and Ivan! Alfred's your brother! We have to help them somehow!" Mathew shook his head and tugged at Arthur's tail.

"No! It's too late for them! But not for you! Please Arthur leave them!" Arthur couldn't accept that this was to be the fate of his two friends. He shook his head and shoved the mouse away.

"I'm not leaving without Alfred and Ivan! Nothing you can say will change my mind!" He stated firmly. Mathew looked at him sadly but left without another word. Arthur watched him crawl away in distaste. How could he abandon his own brother like that? Carefully and quietly, Arthur hopped onto the windowsill and looked around the dimly lit cottage.

The sack had been unceremoniously tossed on the cobble stone floor. His eyes widened when he saw movement coming from the sack. They were still alive! Arthur had a chance to save them now. He was about to step forward when the Doctor came into view again, grabbing the sack and opening it. Arthur held back a gasp as he pulled Ivan out of the sack, the poor rabbit still out of it from eating all the lettuce. The Doctors ice blue eyes twinkled evilly as he grasped Ivan in an odd way then twisted his wrists in one quick motion. Arthur heard a sickening snap and watched horrified as his best friend was tossed on the table... Completely limp. His violet eyes stared unseeing towards him; his expression completely calm.

Arthur choked back a sob for his now dead friend and started to run towards the Doctor who was reaching for Alfred. He was not going to let him kill his second friend. "You monster!" He shrieked and launched an attack of slaps and nails. His full-scale attack was unsuccessful as one moment the Doctor wasn't paying him any attention then the next he had turned and grabbed Arthur's wrists. Wait, he had wrists again. Arthur looked down to see he wasn't a rabbit any more; he was human. Or as human as he could get.

"Ah, mon petite lapin." The French Doctor purred into his ear making him shiver. "How I've missed you." Arthur felt his hands slip up to his throat and squeeze, preventing any air from getting in or out. He gasped for breath and struggled to pry the large man's hands off his throat but the attempts were futile. "I'll make sure you never leave me!" With those words the hands constricted him tighter. His wings flapped uselessly behind him, unable to contribute to his attempt at escape.

Arthur could feel his vision fading, his mind felt lighter and his attempts to make him let go getting weaker. Very soon his arms fell to his sides and the black was starting to engulf his vision. Arthur could hear the Doctor's sinister laugh echo all around him as two arms pulled him into something hard and warm. Was he dying? Was this what dying felt like? The laughter began to fade only to be replaced by distant yelling accompanied by violent shaking. 'Dying shouldn't be like this.' Arthur thought, as the yelling slowly got louder. By now he could make out what it was saying.

"Arthur! For gods sake Arthur wake up!" The voice sounded familiar but in a good way.

"M-Mathew...?" He asked the darkness. He heard a sigh of relief but the shaking didn't cease.

"Yes, it's me Mathew, come on Arthur wake up now, please! You're having a night mare!" Slowly, very slowly, Arthur opened his eyes. A blinding light met him as well as a large black shadow.

"Mathew?" He asked again, hoping with all his might that he wasn't back at the prison.

"Yes, yes I told you it's me, Mathew." The Canadian sounded worried. "I'm sorry Arthur, I didn't realize what putting you in here might do. I'm so sorry." Arthur flinched as the taller boy wrapped his arms around his head and pulled him into an embrace. "I'll never make you hide in here again I promise!" Arthur timidly returned the hug, now reassured that he was still safe.

"N-no, 'm fine..." Arthur replied shakily. His mind went over his dream, showing him the worst part again. Ivan's face when he had died had shaken Arthur the most. How calm Ivan's violet eyes had looked... His eyes burned as tears welled up and spilled over onto his cheeks. He clung tighter to Mathew as the sobs came followed by even more tears. Mathew didn't question his tears as he gently rocked him in a comforting manor.

Arthur didn't know how long he cried for, or how long Mathew held him but by the time he finished it was dark outside the window. Mathew slowly pulled out of the hug, afraid that Arthur might start crying again but the he looked like he was out of tears for now. Arthur was thankful that Mathew didn't question about his dream. Mathew had called it a nightmare. He sniffed and looked up at Mathew's concerned eyes. "Come on," Mathew offered Arthur a hand up. "We'll go wash your face then I'll fix you up with some hot chocolate. It'll sweeten up your dreams. I'll also change your bindings, they might be a bit dirty." He smiled and helped Arthur stand.

The blond was extra careful around him, Arthur noticed, as he was lead to Alfred's bathroom (where the shower was) to wash his face. The cold water helped cool down his burning face. When crying and sobbing into Mathew's shoulder he hadn't noticed how hot his face had become. Mathew led him quietly into the living room once they were finished in the bathroom and sat him down on the couch. "Just relax here while I make the hot chocolate." He turned the television on and gave Arthur the remote. "I'm just over in the kitchen if you need me Ok?" And with that he left Arthur alone.

Arthur looked up at the large television screen. Last time it had taught him how to deal with 'bitches', what would it show him now? He pressed a few buttons before he hit the right one and the screen came to life. The first show was something about the weather. The second show was about a man dressed all in white standing over another man who's stomach was cut open- The next show caught Arthur's attention. "Bloody hell!" The man on the television cursed as he scowled at the others standing around him. His brilliant green eyes flashed with anger. "Am I the only bloomin' person here who knows how to investigate a bloody murder without tampering with the evidence? You're all twits! The bunch of you!" He shooed the people out the room; all except one.

"Detective Kirkland, don't you think that was a bit harsh?" The young man inquired. He had shoulder length brown hair and soft green eyes that looked honest and gentle in contrast to Detective Kirkland's wild ones.

"Nonsense James! They're a bunch of gits! I've been meaning to tell them that for a while," Detective Kirkland smirked at James and glanced down at the body. "So, what can you tell me about the body?" He questioned. As James complied with the detective, Arthur found himself infatuated with the man Detective Kirkland. His confidence, poise and voice! He wanted to be like Detective Kirkland.

"Here's the hot chocolate!" Mathew sang as he walked over to the couch. Arthur smiled up at Mathew and took the mug.

"Thank you." He said and sniffed the liquid. It smelt sweet, like the maple syrup he'd had earlier. He licked the surface of the drink and pulled back, stunned by how hot the drink was. Mathew chuckled and placed his drink on the coffee table.

"I didn't know that you liked British cop shows." He smiled. Arthur looked back up at his new hero.

"Bri-British?" He tried again with his drink, this time aware that it would burn a little.

"Yes, British. They are people who come from England. They have these really cool accents and use words like 'Bloody' a lot." Mathew described the British using only what he had learned over the television. Arthur nodded and smiled. "In fact, I believe your book was written by a British author." This only brightened Arthur's smile. They continued to watch the show and sip their hot chocolate. Arthur did the only interruptions when he asked Mathew to explain some of the words or actions. When the show finished Arthur gulped down the last of his hot chocolate.

"I see you liked your hot chocolate." Mathew laughed as he collected the two mugs and took them into the kitchen. Arthur nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Pancakes, h-hamburgers, hot chocleight, love all... Of them." Mathew corrected his way of saying 'hot chocolate' before asking Arthur to remove his clothes.

"I'll change your bindings then give you some Pajama's." He said. Arthur pulled the large jumper over his head, wincing when it pulled his wings with it then pulled the singlet off too. His feathers were ruffled from being under the garment but they looked cleaner then they had in years. He stretched out his good wing and flapped it once. Mathew appeared with the medical supplies and gasped. "Wow... Your wing is so beautiful." He said as he took a step closer. "It looks... So unreal." Arthur tucked the wing behind his back, unsure of the look on Mathew's face. "S-sorry, I'm not used to seeing a wing that big." The Canadian chuckled as he sat down on the couch across from Arthur.

Arthur let Mathew pull the old bandages off his shoulder and replace them with new ones. He still didn't like the feel of the bare fingers on his flesh but Mathew was gentle. He didn't make any sudden moves or touch the wound directly. When he was done Mathew gave his good shoulder a squeeze. "There, all done," He said. "Now, to find you some pajamas!" Mathew led Arthur to Alfred's room. "As he took my clothes without permission I believe it's only fair to take some of his." Mathew winked at Arthur as he set about looking for some pajamas.

Arthur sat down on the bed and smiled. It was rather bouncy on the bed. He hadn't noticed this morning because of all the fuss but now... He laughed as the bed bent under his weight. Mathew laughed and continued to look for large clothes, enjoying the fact that the atmosphere in there was a lot better then before. "Here, this should fit." He finally found a large shirt with a picture of Captain America on it. "His pants won't fit you though, you're too short. Be right back." Arthur picked up the shirt as Mathew disappeared and examined it. It felt worn and light but soft. He slipped it over his head and wings, chuckling at the size of it.

Mathew returned with some light gray pants. "These should fit you." He held them up to Arthur who took them. He pulled off his current pair of pants and slid into the new ones. They were slightly loose but Mathew reassured him that pajama's were supposed to be loose.

"Thank you." Arthur said again as Mathew tucked him into the large, white and clean again bed.

"Don't worry about it eh? It's what friends do." Arthur felt touched by the comment and rolled over to hug his pillow. He heard Mathew switch off the light and close the door. Arthur was left in the dark but this time he felt safe cuddling the soft white pillow, which smelt vaguely of Alfred. The scent kept away the bad thoughts and allowed him to sleep peacefully this time.

* * *

Alfred yawned loudly as he disposed of his gloves and apron. There hadn't been too much blood luckily but the procedure had gone for a while. The entire time Alfred had asked himself how in the world did someone get a splinter that size through his skull? Kiku had said something about an explosion at their work place but it just seemed so unlikely. If there had been an explosion then why hadn't he heard any sirens around the city? The whole thing seemed suspicious but he was only there to help, not to ask questions.

He was about ready to leave when Kiku caught his arm, surprising the American. "E-excuse me Alfred, but would you like to join me for a coffee at McDonald's before you leave?" Alfred never turned down a coffee, especially one at McDonald's.

"Sure thing Kiku." He grinned and led the way out of the hospital, waving to the receptionist as they went past. She smiled and waved back at the pair then returned to her work. Kiku smiled to himself. It wasn't often he could get a hold of Alfred after work. Despite the man's charm at the hospital, he didn't appear to socialize outside of work at all. The occasional party with fellow work members and that was it. Kiku felt privileged to be one of the few that Alfred would hang out with.

"That sure was a strange operation." He said, trying to start a conversation after walking in silence for a few minutes. Alfred shrugged nonchalantly.

"I guess, are you sure the blond guy didn't say anything other then it was an explosion?" He asked and stuffed his hands into his pockets to warm them up. Kiku nodded.

"Just that it was an explosion. He was hurt too but said he had his own doctor back at his work." Alfred frowned and shrugged again.

"Weird, though I guess it would have been free at work. Maybe the guy's a cheap ass?" They both laughed softly then lapsed into silence again. The McDonald's wasn't too far from the hospital, knowing that people with late night shifts often visited for a late night dinner. At ten o'clock at night the fast food outlet was practically deserted save for a few people. Alfred held the door for Kiku who blushed slightly at the gesture then politely asked if he could treat Alfred to the coffee. Once they had order, they sat down and waited. Again, the silence was heavy over both of them.

"Coffee's ready!" The cashier called, startling them both.

"I'll get it," Alfred said quickly, standing and leaving Kiku at the table. While he was busy getting the coffee two more customers entered McDonald's giggling and carrying on.

"Oh. My. God! That's so totally Kiku right there!" The blond giggled and ran over startling the Japanese man. Alfred mentally sighed in relief as he walked back over. Hopefully the two new comers would help lift the awkward atmosphere. "Kiku! It's like, been a while!" He leaned over to give Kiku a hug before grabbing his date's hand. The brunette smiled weakly and bowed his head.

"Evening Kiku, sorry we've just been around the circuit and Feliks is a bit drunk..." He smiled apologetically at his friend. Feliks pouted and stole Alfred's chair.

"I'm like, not that drunk! Toris is such a liar!" Alfred walked up to the trio and placed Kiku's coffee in front of him. "Oh~ I didn't know you were like, busy Kiku honey." He giggled and leaned against Toris' side. Kiku blushed and thanked Alfred for the coffee.

"We're having coffee after work, there's nothing special about that." He stated. Alfred grabbed a chair and passed it to Toris before pulling one up for him. He took a large sip of his own beverage and frowned at Feliks who was grinning at him.

"What?" He asked rather rudely.

"A little birdy told me that you were there when Michelle like, got what was coming to her." Kiku and Toris glared at Feliks, unaware of that day's event. Alfred laughed loudly, startling the other customers as well as Kiku and Toris.

"Oh yeah! That was hilarious! Kiku get this! We were out with Arthur and he slapped her right on the cheek!" Feliks and Alfred burst into fits of laughter.

"I wish I'd like, seen the look on her face! I bet it was totally hilarious!"

"It was!" Kiku sent Toris a worried glance. The brown haired man smiled gently and gave his friend's hand a reassuring pet.

"I'll talk to you later." He told Kiku who smiled gratefully.

"How's your acting career going Toris?" Kiku asked while Feliks and Alfred were still laughing at Michelle.

"Great! I just finished that British police show; you know the one where I play James? And now they're asking me to come back for the second series! I'm so excited! The only problem is that I would have to move away for a while to finish it." He looked at Felik's fondly who was currently sharing Alfred's coffee. "I don't know what I'd do without him." He said sadly. Kiku gave Toris a hug.

"Do what you think is best." He said and took a sip of his own coffee.

"Well I should get going." Alfred said as he handed the rest of his coffee to Feliks. "Mattie will be wondering why I'm not home."

"Oh, um stay safe Alfred." Kiku stood up and bowed his head. Alfred grinned and opened his mouth to say something when Kiku cut him off. "I know you're a hero but sometimes hero's need saving too." Alfred laughed and bid them farewell. Outside it had started to snow again. He cursed his luck and hurried back through the rapidly rising snow.

Half an hour later saw Alfred walking through the doors of his apartment and huddling into the elevator for some kind of warmth. The elevator dinged alerting him to his stop then opened. He pulled out his key and unlocked the front door, not surprised by the silence inside. He paused when he entered and growled to his self. He could practically feel the Prussians obnoxious presence in his apartment, which meant that Mathew had had him over earlier. He let out a frustrated sigh. When would Mathew see the guy for the idiot that he was?

He walked through the apartment not worrying about the noise, as Mathew was usually an early to bed kind of guy, which meant he would already be asleep. Alfred had been prone to staying up late and sleeping in. He peeked in the living room, frowning when he didn't see Arthur. If he wasn't there then he had to be either in his bed or Mathew's. Somehow he didn't think he'd be in Mathew's.

Sure enough, the angel was curled up in his bed, hugging one of his pillows. Alfred couldn't bring himself to remove the angel from his bed; he just looked too serene. Instead he dashed into the bathroom, had a quick shower to warm his self up and changed into his pajama pants.

After turning the bathroom light off he crept across the room and pulled back the covers to his bed before slipping in next to Arthur. The angel stirred and rolled over to face Alfred, his green eyes fluttered half open. "A-Alfred... Is you?" He asked groggily. Alfred smiled and ruffled Arthur's hair much to his annoyance.

"Yeah it's me." He answered. Arthur sunk back down into the covers and yawned.

"Promise… D-don't... Eat the lettuce... O-Ok?" His voice dropped to a whisper as sleep enveloped him. Alfred had no idea what Arthur meant and could only think he was still half asleep.

"Don't worry, I promise I won't eat the lettuce Ok?" He said to humor him but Arthur had already fallen back to sleep. Alfred chuckled and pulled the covers up to his chin. All he could hear in the large room was the sound of Arthur's light breathing next to him. The snow continued to fall thick outside his window as a streetlight illuminated it. The sight of it was rather depressing seeing as it was moon light that was supposed light up the night; not a light bulb.

With a yawn Alfred rolled over onto his side. He felt Arthur move behind him, curling up into his back and smiled. The angel was pretty cute... Even for a guy... Even though I like girls. He added to make himself feel better. "What the heck." He muttered and rolled back around to face Arthur who mumbled something about lettuce again. He was just doing this to comfort him. Alfred told himself this as he wrapped an arm around the smaller body. "It's just for comfort..." He said out loud, trying again to convince his mind. He continued to repeat this in his head till he too, fell asleep.

* * *

Gilbert grumbled angrily as he made his way back to the laboratory. He had almost gotten to have sex with Mathew when his insensitive brother had to interrupt it! "Stupid bruder, why can't I get some without someone interrupting!" A couple on the side of the road sent him odd glances and walked a bit faster. "Yeah keep walking! I bet you didn't just miss out on having sex with your boyfriend!" Gilbert growled earning more strange glances.

The laboratory wasn't all that far from Mathew's home, Gilbert realized. In fact, if subject seven had been able to make it this far he wouldn't have been surprised if Alfred had taken him in. He was a self-proclaimed 'hero' after all. So if that book did belong to subject seven then he had to assume that Alfred was harboring him or he was nearby. When he looked up he had reached the street the laboratory was on and saw a figure standing in front of the gates. "Bruder!" He yelled and started to do a slow jog towards him. Ludwig's face was set into a harsh glare as his brother approached.

"I hope you found something out because Francis is ready to have every bodies head on a silver platter!" Gilbert gulped and nodded.

"Yeah I have the general area in which he should be in." Gilbert scratched the back of his head nervously as Ludwig glared harder.

"While you were away one of the other subjects almost escaped." He hissed. Gilbert frowned and looked towards the laboratory.

"Which one was it? Subject six?" The large Russian could have broken out at any time, or so Gilbert thought.

"No, he's being kept under a heavy dose of sedative… Francis said he doesn't want a repeat of the other day seeing as we're making him stronger now." Ludwig looked utterly exhausted now. Gilbert wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders and steered him back through the gate.

"I guess I should go report to Doctor Bonnefoy now right?" He wasn't looking forward to doing so but the longer he put it off the angrier Francis would be later. The French man was generally creepy and perverted but he feared what he would do without his precious angel around to take that entire perverseness out on.

"Yes, he asked that you report directly to him the moment you got back." Ludwig rubbed his bandaged arm tenderly. The albino didn't fail to notice to wound.

"You were hurt in the scuffle bruder?" He asked. Ludwig pulled his sleeve down over the wound, his blue eyes hardening.

"Just a flesh wound, nothing to worry about. Feli took care of it easily." The blond blushed as he remembered the fuss the Italian had made over the deep gash. "He… Did a good job." Gilbert snickered and nudged Ludwig in the ribs.

"Yeah, a good job at a blow job right? It's about time! That blush on your face is proof!" Gilbert ducked and ran away as Ludwig growled and tried to punch him in the face.

"Get back here bruder!" He yelled but couldn't run after Gilbert as his legs were still bruised from the fight with the more vicious of the two female experiments. "Just go see Francis!" He yelled after his brother who had already entered the building. Gilbert laughed obnoxiously loud as he made his way through the laboratory to Francis' office.

When he reached the two large doors he knocked and waited. "Come in." Came a rather angry sounding French man. Gilbert opened both doors and grinned at his boss.

"The awesome me has returned! West said you wanted to see me?" Francis was reading over some documents on his desk. He looked up when Gilbert entered, clearly not pleased. His wavy blond hair looked frazzled and not as silky as it usually did while his eyes were a darker shade of blue then usual.

"You better have good news for me Gilbert, I'm rather worried about what's taking so long to find a man who's never left the laboratory all his life." Gilbert shuffled from foot to foot, feeling more and more nervous under Francis' gaze.

"Yeah, yeah I managed to narrow down the area in which I think he's in. It's not too far from here." Francis brightened slightly at this.

"Well done, take some men and search that area. I want him found and returned. You may leave now Gilbert." He waved his hand lazily, dismissing the Prussian from his presence. Gilbert shut the doors behind him and waited till he had walked a few meters away before sighing loudly. It looked like another late night again.

**Yay, another chapter! I seriously didn't expect it to go on so long o.o;; -Thought to self, six pages max… oh it's seven… eight… Damn- Ah well ^^; **

**Arthur doesn't have a last name in this story (it's AU) and I figured seeing as he's lived his life in basically solitude… He wouldn't have an accent… It's not something you're born with :/ I don't think… You get it from people around you… Arthur will most likely get his from Detective Kirkalnd and his assistant 'James'. **


	7. Faundoauto

When Ivan opened his eyes all he could see was a bright shining light. His first thought was _'is this the sun? Has the world finally ended?_' Unfortunately reality kicked in once the anesthetic wore off a little. In the background he could hear a frequent and perpetual 'beep' that let him know his heart was still beating. The bright shining light was nothing more then a florescent bulb placed above what he assumed was the operating table. He had been on the operating table for what felt like days now.

Ever since he had helped Arthur escape, security around him had doubled and he was continuously drugged, keeping his thoughts and physical movement sluggish. Minutes, hour's days, they all melded into one another, making it difficult to know how long it had been since Arthur had escaped. He could only hope that his sunflower had somehow found help and eluded the Doctor's grasp.

The door opened on the other side of the room where Ivan couldn't see. He had been strapped down with thick leather straps on to the operating table for extra measure. If only he wasn't drugged then he would have been out of there and looking for Arthur. Footsteps clicked and echoed through out the room, making their way closer and closer till they stopped next to him. Ivan craned his neck to his left as far as the straps would allow him to see none other then the Doctor himself standing over him.

"W-what... Do you... Want?" He croaked, his voice rough from his healing throat. As an extra safety precaution, needles had lacerated his throat. The Doctor smirked down on him; his steely cerulean eyes looked Ivan's ragged body up and down before finally falling on his face.

"You are coming along quite nicely, your body seems to be accepting the new drugs with out much rejection too." His voice sounded casual and indifferent, like he was having this conversation with his mother and not an experiment. The Doctor lifted his hand and stroked away a few strands of hair from Ivan's face. He flinched, not wanting the Doctor of all people to touch him. The Doctor chuckled and took his hand away. "You are so sensitive... That's rather unbecoming of a soon to be soldier."

"War... H-has already... Been won... Why d-do... You need me?" He paused between words to catch his breath, causing the Doctor's smirk to widen.

"Ah~ Why you ask?" He leaned in so their faces were close to touching. "Because the American government wants more, they want to make sure that the other countries don't rise up against them. Now that they have so much power they have become... Insecure~ and it's people like me that benefit from their insecurity."

Ivan grimaced, feeling disgusted that he was being used as a tool of war. Nothing other then some object that would make the Doctor in front of him filthy rich. He didn't want to be the cause of pain or suffering... All he wanted was to lie in a field of sunflowers; watch them bloom in the sunlight and enjoy the warmth and happiness that accompanied them. And maybe... Hopefully... Enjoy them with Arthur. His one and only friend. Ivan's pain diminished as he thought of his dream and he felt relaxed despite the situation.

"From that happy look I would say that you are thinking of subject seven? I have some good news for you then," The Doctor twirled one of his blond locks around his index finger. "We have narrowed down our search area... I wouldn't be surprised if they brought him back tomorrow and then I shall make him pay for escaping... I'm sure he'll share my bed willingly after what I have in store!" Ivan glared darkly at the Doctor and struggled against his straps, the leather digging into his skin. The drugs in his system were slowly being blocked out by his anger, giving him more control over his actions and thoughts.

The Doctors eyes suddenly held dread in them as Ivan struggled harder and harder against his bonds. He could feel the leather beginning to tear as he pushed harder and harder. This was it! His strength was returning! He could feel it!

Without warning, a needle was plunged into his already healing throat, causing a spurt of blood before the sedative inside the needle was injected. Ivan gurgled and spluttered as blood was forced up and out of his mouth, running down either sides of his chin. It wasn't the worst pain but it stopped his struggles momentarily as he tried to breath again. His head lolled to the side as the drugs began to take effect. He could see the Doctor pulling out something from his pocket and speaking into it.

"I need some more sedatives down here, I plan to give him the formula type one... Oh and some doctors will be needed too in case his body rejects it." Of course, the formula type one. Ivan had heard it mentioned some time ago. The formula was the first concentrated mixture created from a compound found in subject one's blood that increased his healing abilities. With the best healing ability it was only natural to make it from him. The problem was that he and subject one weren't the same blood type, which meant it was very dangerous to mix them.

Ivan felt darkness tugging at his mind, blurring his vision and halting his thoughts. It wouldn't be long till they attempted the mix and Ivan prayed that he would survive it. He turned to give a hate filled glare at the Doctor once more before he was completely enveloped into merciful the darkness.

* * *

Alfred was having the most terrific dream!

He was flying on a large white swan through the skies, soaring through clouds and an endless blue terrain. Down below he couldn't see through the thick smog that covered the city but he didn't care. He was above all that with no worries or cares! And best of all the swan's feathers were so soft. He cuddled down into them and smiled, a feeling of nostalgia creeping in as he vaguely remembered hugging something this soft before.

He would have liked to have continued the dream if one of the swans feathers hadn't decided to tickle his nose ever so gently. Alfred's nose twitched and no matter how hard he rubbed it, he could feel the sneeze making it's way up his nose until...

"ACHOOO!" The size and sound of his sneeze had unfortunately, not only woken him, but also startled Arthur who shot out of the bed and dived onto the floor. Alfred sat still for a moment, dazed by the power of the sneeze before grabbing his glasses and crawling over to the side of the bed where Arthur was hiding.

"Sorry 'bout that Artie! I think your feathers tickled my nose in my sleep!" Arthur looked up at him with large emerald eyes, reminding Alfred of a small, lost rabbit. He then looked around the room, as if to confirm Alfred's words and making sure that the sneeze was indeed not a physical threat before clambering back onto the bed. Alfred moved back to his own side and felt a small amount of relief... The sneeze had been the perfect excuse not to wake up with his arms around the smaller blond. It would have been awkward as hell if he'd had to explain it to Arthur or to his brother why he had decided to basically 'spoon' the angel in his sleep. He looked at Arthur who was snuggling under the blankets again, noticing that one of his wings was sticking out of his shirt (HIS Captain America shirt) and that was most likely the reason why Alfred had sneezed.

"Sleep well Artie?" He grinned, attempting to start some sort of morning conversation with the strange man. Arthur scowled at him, furrowing his large eyebrows and nestled himself deeper into the blanket.

"Did sleep well... Please don't call me Artie... Git." He muttered and rolled so his back was facing Alfred in a way that asked to be left alone. The American was stunned to say the very least at Arthur's behavior. He gaped openly at his bedfellow before clutching the blanket and doubling over in laugher.

"Oh god! I can't believe this!" He cackled as he got off the bed and made his way to the bedroom door. He could hear Arthur grumbling incoherently to himself as he left the room.

Mathew was busy in the kitchen cooking what smelt like French toast when Alfred entered. Two cups of coffee and a cup of hot chocolate sat cooling on the counter accompanied by a small bowl of various chopped fruits. Alfred grabbed his large mug filled to the brim with coffee and ignoring how hot it was, downed half of it in one go.

"What's so funny?" Mathew asked casually with a yawn as he dipped the bread in the egg mixture.

"Oh man! You gotta hear this!" Alfred exclaimed as he sat down on one of the high stools by the counter. "Arthur's got this slight British accent! He called me a git! I'm not even really sure what that means but he said it!" Mathew frowned as more laughter erupted from his older brother.

"Well, I did watch that Detective Kirkland show with him last night... That's probably where he got it from... He seemed very interested in it." Alfred wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.

"You're kidding! He soaks TV up like a sponge! Maybe I could get him to watch one of my super hero movies! Do you think he would try to save someone?"

"... Maybe," Mathew answered, not really paying attention. "Where is Arthur now? Still in your room? I hope you didn't mind sharing your bed."

"He went back to sleep after my sneeze scared him awake," Alfred snickered and popped a grape into his mouth. "Though I hope this breakfast is something to make up for having that Albino bastard in my house last night."

Mathew chewed the inside of his cheek and hesitantly dipped some more bread in the mixture. "Firstly, this is an apartment like you said to me the other day, secondly, no, this isn't an apology breakfast for Gilbert being here... It's for... Something else." It was Alfred's turn to frown as he leaned over the counter.

"What is that... Something else?" He prompted, the humor in his voice gone. Mathew placed the egg soaked bread in the frying pan and turned to face Alfred.

"Ok, don't get mad... But last night just before Gilbert left... He saw Arthur's book." Alfred froze and turned to look back at the coffee table where the book was situated. Still as grimy and bloody as it had been when Alfred brought it in.

"Did he say anything about it?" He inquired softly.

"Um just that he sort of recognized it... And that he wanted to know if he could have it." Mathew turned back to his cooking.

"So this is an apology breakfast for almost exposing Arthur to Gilbert..." Alfred's frown deepened the more he thought about it. "What does Gilbert know about Arthur anyways? I thought you said he was a security guard."

"Yes, he is a security guard but I never asked where." Mathew continued to watch the frying pan and flipped the bread over when it looked cooked enough. "Though I think it's safe to assume he works for who did that to Arthur..."

"And yet you're still dating him?" Alfred interrupted. Mathew glared at his older brother.

"Just because he works for some evil corporation does not mean that he, him self is evil!" He hissed defensively. Alfred frowned and finished off his coffee, grabbing a slice of apple as he did so.

"But he must know right? If he knows even as small a detail as Artie's book then he would have to know about it all." Mathew sighed loudly and flipped the cooked French bread onto a waiting plate.

"I'm not going to bring him up again if all you're going to do is accuse him of something he may or may not have done!"

"Good because I don't like talking about him any how." Alfred grabbed another slice of apple and chewed it noisily, knowing it would grate against Mathew's nerves and annoy him even more. Mathew placed a second piece of egg soaked bread into the frying pan.

"Then let's talk about something more productive eh? I wanted to try and get Arthur to the vets today to get a look at his wing and see the damage but I have a feeling that we should be more careful on the streets now." He whirled around and slapped Alfred's hand away from the plate with the French bread, pointedly ignoring the dejected look on his older brother's face.

"We also had to take his clothes to get altered remember? Oh! Then I should probably call Kiku and see if his sister has any openings for today." Alfred dashed off the high seat and back to his room.

Arthur barely acknowledged him when he entered and chose to stay quietly snuggled up on his bed. Alfred snorted at the 'silent treatment' he was being given just because he had scared the angel so early in the morning. He grabbed his phone from his pants where he had left them on the floor the night before. He _was_ going to leave Arthur in peace on his bed... But he couldn't help but want to tease the angel. "Hey Artie!" He cooed. "Time to get up and have breakfast!" Alfred expressed his good morning in the form of yelling and yanking the blanket off the bed in one smooth motion. Arthur flinched visibly and curled up even tighter as the cold air attacked his small warm form.

"Give it back git!" He shivered and sat up; hugging his legs to his chest while his wings struggled to open under his shirt. Alfred smiled cheekily but decided to take pity on him. He went to his closet and pulled out a large blue dressing gown, holding it up to show Arthur.

"Here, this will keep you warm and you can come have breakfast now!" He draped the dressing gown around the smaller man's shoulders and slowly eased his arms through the sleeves. The last thing he did was to tie it around his middle and smile at his handiwork. Arthur felt the soft material and rubbed it against his cheek, somewhat like a cat. "There! Come on now, Mattie cooked us breakfast this morning again!"

"Thank you." Alfred turned and sent Arthur his heart-winning smile.

"Aw think nothin' of it Artie!" He grinned when the others expression quickly soured at the use of the nick name.

Alfred dragged Arthur to one of the stools and sat on his own, watching as Arthur watched him then replicated the behavior. Mathew smiled softly and pushed the cup of hot chocolate towards Arthur. "There, seeing as you liked it so much yesterday and there's some fruit in that bowl for you to eat too." He said then turned back to his cooking.

Arthur held the cup up to his lips, sniffing it and then slowly tasting it again before a look of recognition spread over his face and he drank more deeply. Alfred chuckled softly, watching as Arthur then reached out and took a slice of apple. He took a small, tentative bite, then like with the hot chocolate, realized what it was and ate it with any qualms. His tongue flicking out and running over his small pink lips to lick up the apple juice-

"Alfred?" Mathew asked, a small hint of concern on his face. Alfred blinked and looked back at his brother.

"Hm? What is it?"

"If you stare at Arthur any longer you'll burn holes through him," His brother chuckled while Arthur looked positively mortified. "Oh no! I didn't mean it literally Arthur." Mathew corrected his mistake quickly while Alfred started to giggle again as he grabbed another grape.

"We got a full day planned for yah Arthur! But first maybe you should have another shower? Good to start the day off clean!"

"He can shower after he's eaten Al," Mathew chided as he placed the plate with French toast in front of Arthur. Alfred pouted and grabbed another grape, choosing to stay silent, as he wasn't going to win. Mathew chose to ignore Alfred's sulking and continued cooking.

Arthur stared at his food, clearly fascinated by the new food.

"It's called French Toast," Alfred informed, his small sulk ending as quickly as it had started. "It's egg, cinnamon and toast basically... Though sometimes you can put sugar on it." Arthur nodded and ripped a piece off, chewing it thoughtfully before a small smile spread on his lips.

"I... Like it." He mumbled shyly after swallowing.

"Thank you Arthur." Mathew smiled as he took a piece of pear from the fruit bowl. "I'm glad you like it."

"Now hurry up and finish it so we can get going!" Alfred interrupted them. Both Mathew and Arthur sent him fierce glares. "What? We got a lot to do today." The blond shrugged as he finished his food.

After breakfast, Alfred supervised Arthur while he showered, got dressed and brushed his teeth. They couldn't use Arthur's new tops just yet so he was dressed in a mixture of his, Alfred's and Mathew's clothes. Arthur was wearing his new black dress pants and underwear, a pair of Mathew's shoes and one of Alfred's singlet's, long sleeved but lose shirts, his now clean bomber jacket, a scarf and finally a beanie to top it all off.

Alfred hitched up the backpack filled with Arthur's tops in it while trying not to snicker at his current clothes. Mathew punched him in the arm while Arthur chose to give him the silent treatment again. Very soon they were on the street making their way to the vets.

* * *

Gilbert had managed to get four hours sleep. Four fucking hours. And what made them even more disappointing was that there was no actual fucking in those four hours! So after one phone call from his brother and three coffees' later he was out on the streets again searching for Francis' sick project.

"This is fucking stupid!" He hissed, gulping down his fourth coffee for that morning. Subject seven had to be dead. There was no way that he could still be alive. He had no idea about the world outside the laboratory, he wasn't wearing much clothing apart from his cloak and he had been shot in the shoulder! He would have passed out from the cold or blood loss or both! But if that had been the case then they should in theory, have found a body. Seeing as they had not located a corpse then he had to be alive... But saved by someone.

Gilbert's sleep deprived mind went back to the previous night with Mathew. He had seen that bloody little book on his coffee table. Who the hell keeps a blood stained book on their coffee table?

Mathew had said that Alfred found the book and brought it in. Why would he do that? Why would he pick up a random blood covered book to put on his coffee table? Gilbert stomped on the snow-covered street in frustration.

'_He must have found him! There's no other explanation! But maybe Mathew doesn't know?_' Gilbert shivered when an exceptionally cold breeze blew past and sipped his rapidly cooling coffee. The thoughts made sense but without proof he couldn't exactly bust in there guns blazing! Or... Well he could, but he liked Mathew and would prefer to stay his boyfriend rather then have him dump him over this small matter.

Gilbert was just rounding a corner when the very person he was thinking about walked right into him. "Mathew!" He beamed, wrapping his arms around the smaller blond.

"Gilbert?" Mathew yelped, his violet eyes widening as a panicked look covered his face. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Work," Gilbert muttered, blaming the look on the surprise hug he had given him. "The awesome me has been given a special task and I'm kinda in the middle of it." Mathew's expression softened, as it usually did when Gilbert complained about his job.

"Oh, poor Gilbert, maybe we could catch up later for coffee?" Someone snorted on the other side of the corner. Someone who sounded very familiar to Mathew's older brother.

"Is Alfred here?" Gilbert could hardly suppress the anger and suspicion in his voice as he tried to push against Mathew and get a look.

"Y-yeah but he's not important Ok? I don't want you two fighting on the streets again you'll get in trouble and I'm not bailing you out!"

"No, no I don't want to fight I just have to ask him something." He had almost made it to the wall when Mathew pushed against him forcefully into the wall. "Mathew wha-" His words were cut off as Mathew pressed their lips together in one of the most amorous kisses he'd ever gotten. In the back of his mind Gilbert knew that this was a distraction but god he had missed Mathew so much! The Albino slipped his arms around his smaller lover's waist and pulled them closer together, thus deepening their kiss.

"Get a room!" Someone shouted from the other side of the street and Gilbert would have loved to shoot them because Mathew was self-conscious about public shows of affection. So the moment he remembered there were other people watching he pulled away, a scarlet blush covering his cheeks.

"I uhh, oh maple. I'm sorry, I just really miss you." He whispered and rested his head on Gilbert's shoulder. Gilbert took the opportunity to run his fingers through the soft blond hair knowing full well how much Mathew enjoyed the small romantic gestures.

"I really missed you too." Mathew slowly pulled away and looked up at him sadly.

"I have to get going, I was taking Al with me to work, so would it be Ok if I call you later?" Gilbert nodded and looked down at the cup of coffee that he'd dropped in the heat of passion. "Sorry." Mathew smiled shyly.

"Oh, it doesn't matter, I'll just buy another later. Alright I suppose you shouldn't keep that fat ass of a bruder waiting." He winked while Mathew sent him a disapproving look. "Take care Mattie."

"Take care Gilbert-... Yeah see you later." Mathew quickly turned and rounded the corner to catch up with his brother.

Gilbert frowned and continued to lean against the wall. It had looked like Mathew had wanted to say something but stopped himself mid sentence. Oh well, he could ask him about it later.

He spotted an open coffee shop on the other side of the street and slowly made his way over to the blushing girl behind the counter. She had clearly seen the exchange between him and Mathew and it looks like she might gave enjoyed it. "Flat white please, two shots." He grinned, his ruby red eyes sparkling with pride.

"S-sure thing sir." The girl nodded and went about making the coffee.

Gilbert looked back down the street where Mathew had left with Alfred. It was strange. Mathew never usually went that far in public and he had looked quit distressed when they bumped into each other... He groaned and closed his eyes, startling the girl behind the counter who went even redder.

The whole situation sucked but if he wanted to keep his job then he'd have to expose Alfred. That he could do... But he didn't want to bring Mathew into it. "Man!" He growled and pulled out a few spare coins for the coffee. He thanked the girl and stalked off, his tired mind pouring over the evidence he had and slowly formulating a plan.

* * *

* * *

Somehow he was going to find Subject seven and get him back.

* * *

Arthur didn't know what to expect after Alfred had dragged him down the street, leaving Mathew to deal with someone around the corner. They hadn't stopped till they were a great deal far from them and Arthur was relieved that now he could catch his breath. Alfred sat him down in a seat at what he called a 'cafe' and pulled out his phone. Arthur watched him curiously as he punched in some numbers and waited till a small voice that sounded very much like Mathew answered.

"Hey Mattie! Yeah we got away safely... We're at the... Sugar Tea cafe... No we didn't get into any trouble... Thanks for covering us Mattie though I still don't think you should be kissing- He hung up on me!" Alfred frowned as he joined Arthur sitting down at the table.

"Running from who?... Why shouldn't Mathew be kissing?" He questioned, watching as anger and annoyance flickered over Alfred's face.

"Hm? We were running from a bad guy, a villain and Mathew shouldn't be kissing him because he's evil."

"Evil..." Arthur mumbled taking it in. Why would Mathew be going out with someone who was evil? He felt a bolt of panic rise in his chest. What if he was dating The Doctor? He was the most evil person Arthur knew. No, if the he were dating The Doctor then he would have known.

"Arthur? Arthur! You ok?" Arthur felt Alfred's comforting warm hand wrap around his, squeezing it lightly and sending waves of relief through his body. As long as Alfred was around he was safe. He looked up into the soft blue eyes that watched him with worry.

"'M fine Alfred." He answered, slowly picking Alfred's hand up and placing it on his cheek. It was incredibly warm and it made him feel better. Arthur closed his eyes and let the feeling of relief wash over him. It didn't matter that he was out in public where he could be seen he was safe with Alfred.

"Oh, I didn't realize that I interrupting something, I could always come back later if you want eh?" Arthur opened his eyes and looked up at Mathew. He felt himself blush a little as Alfred pulled his hand back.

"Y-you weren't interrupting anything! I was making sure that Arthur was comfortable..." Alfred muttered though it looked like Mathew didn't believe him.

"Of course, anyways, we should hurry to the vets I have the afternoon shift and I want to check Arthur out before I start."

"Alright, alright, come on Artie." Alfred offered his hand but Arthur refused to take it. Honestly, how long would it take for Alfred to get that he didn't like being called Artie? He glared up at him and waited. Alfred was frowning, trying to figure out why he was being glared at when Mathew stepped in.

"Al... I don't think Arthur appreciates the nickname." Alfred turned to him confused.

"You mean I'm getting the cold shoulder because he doesn't like being called Artie?" He giggled and turned back to Arthur who was standing now. "Sorry man, I didn't realize that's why you were getting angry."

Arthur stared at Alfred and frowned, furrowing his large eyebrows downwards. It was clear that Alfred wasn't really sorry... He was just humoring him and he knew this because The Doctor had humored him a lot too. Arthur walked past Alfred, ignoring his presence and taking Mathew's hand.

"Wanker." He muttered and started walking. Mathew covered his mouth with his free hand and snickered while Alfred stood still like a stunned mullet.

"What?" He yelled once he managed to find his voice. "Hey you two get back here! Quit ignoring me!"

It took longer to reach the vets then they had anticipated seeing as they had to take the long way to avoid Gilbert but once they were there Mathew snapped into action. He told a small lie about showing the equipment to Arthur who was a budding veterinarian to get them into the back room where the x-ray machine was located. No one question the validity of his statement as Mathew was a well-known and trusted vet.

Mathew felt Arthur tense the moment they walked through the doors and realized that he had probably been reminded of the laboratory he had lived in before this. He squeezed his hand reassuringly and received a smile in return. Alfred was sulking behind them, mumbling about how unfair Arthur was being but neither of them paid him much attention as they walked down the halls.

Once inside the x-ray room, Arthur was stripped of his tops, his injured wing was released from its bindings and they got him to sit behind the x-ray machine. Arthur whined as the machine started up and Mathew nudged Alfred to go over and comfort him. Alfred begrudgingly complied and walked over, patting Arthur's good shoulder and smiling.

The machine whirred and took five simultaneous photos before winding down. While Alfred helped Arthur but his bindings back on and get dressed again Mathew inspected the x-rays. He blinked as he inspected the photos.

"Amazing!" He gasped, looking over each on carefully. "Astounding I can't believe this!" Alfred was quickly by his side peering at the photos.

"What? What's so amazing?" He queried.

"Can't you tell? Look harder! The fracture has almost completely healed! Not even birds can heal this fast!" Mathew laid the slide on the bench and pointed the fracture to Alfred. "It's safe to assume that he got shot the day you found him correct?"

"Correct." Alfred replied as he peered down at the photos.

"Then that was two, three days ago and there is no way, no way that a human or animal would be able to heal this much in that amount of time! His healing ability is beyond normal." Mathew looked at Arthur who stared right back at him, confused about the Canadians sudden burst of energy. "You've noticed that all the little cuts and bruises he had on him are gone right?"

"You're right." Alfred looked at Arthur too, who was starting to get uncomfortable.

"Imagine if you could extract the gene that allows him to heal so quickly, anyone could be healed!" Mathew gathered the x-rays and placed them in a paper envelope for later. "We wouldn't have to worry so much about life threatening wounds, what strides we could make! What if it could cure illnesses too? Imagine if it could cure Aids!"

Alfred grinned. The prospect of saving lives appealed to him greatly but the way Arthur was looking at them worried him. Arthur's emerald eyes stared up at them both in fear as if they had turned into something that frightened him.

"No..." He muttered.

"What?" Mathew blinked, stopping his tangent.

"We can't do that to Arthur unless he says it's Ok. It wouldn't be right to stick him right back into the situation he was trying to escape." Alfred clenched his hands together.

"Well of course we wouldn't do tests without Arthur's permission. Humanity laws are extremely strict now days, though that doesn't appear to have stopped Arthur's last home." Mathew sighed, the excitement fading.

"Good," Alfred reached out for Arthur. "Don't worry we won't do anything without your permission Ok? Mattie just got a bit excited about how cool you are." Arthur watched them both, his eyes darting back and fourth between them as if he was debating internally whether or not he could trust them. They stayed that way for almost a minute before Arthur took a tentative step forward and took Alfred's hand in his own. Both Alfred and Mathew let out a small sigh of relief. Neither would have known what to do if Arthur decided he couldn't trust them any more.

"We really care about you Arthur," Mathew said softly. "So don't think for a second that we would do anything to you that would hurt you." Arthur nodded slowly.

"Thank you... I... I like Alfred and Mathew." The blond haired angel mumbled as he stepped even closer. Alfred grinned and pulled Arthur into a hug, causing the blond to squeak in surprise.

"We like you too Arti- I mean Arthur, come on Mattie, group hug!" Mathew chuckled and hugged Arthur from behind. Alfred snickered and gave them both a quick squeeze then let them go.

"I suppose you too need to get to Kiku's now?" Mathew said as he placed the x-rays in Alfred's backpack.

"Yep! We're going to fix up your clothes Arthur so that you can wear them properly." Arthur appeared to cheer up at this notion.

"Well take care and watch out Ok? I'll probably be back around dinner time tonight." Mathew grabbed his long white coat but paused before putting it on. Arthur had once again gone frigid next to Alfred when he saw the coat. Crap.

"Don't worry Arthur, Mattie isn't going to hurt you or anyone else, he saves animals." Alfred held Arthur's hand and rubbed his thumb over the other's fingers in comforting gesture. "Come on, we're leaving now." He started to steer Arthur out of the x-ray room when Mathew caught his arm.

"Stay off main roads and _please_ be careful." He whispered into his ear. Alfred nodded then waved goodbye as he led Arthur out of the vets. The angel seemed instantly more relaxed the moment they were out of the building.

"Ok before we leave I have to make a phone call." Alfred said as he pulled out his mobile but never once letting go of Arthur's hand. "This should only take a minute."

* * *

"Vee~ who was that?"

"Alfred," The small Japanese man clarified. "He wanted to know if Mei could tailor some clothes for his new room mate. Arthur, today, so they'll be coming over soon."

"Alfred has a new room mate? Does he still live with Mathew? I haven't heard anything." Feliciano tilted his head to the side.

"Yes, Alfred told me about him last night at work and yes, his brother still lives with him." Kiku sat down on the couch next to Feliciano and sipped his tea.

"Vee~ you think that Arthur is competition?" Kiku almost choked on his tea but managed to swallow it quickly. Feliciano was usually an airhead so sometimes he forgot how in tune he could be with other people's feelings.

Kiku wasn't proud about his feelings of envy against the man he'd never even met but he couldn't help but feel slightly threatened by this Arthur character. When Alfred mentioned the man he developed a fond look in his eyes as if they were closer then people who had just met. Uncomfortable with the way their conversation was heading, Kiku steered it away from him self.

"S-so, how are you and Doitsu, Feli-kun? Did he like your pasta?" At the mention of Ludwig's pet name, Feliciano's bubbly demeanor suddenly soured.

"I accidentally forgot the fork so he couldn't eat my pasta then I chickened out and ran away." The Italian looked crestfallen, something that Kiku rarely saw. The last time he had seen Feliciano look this sad was when he found out that his brother couldn't come to America because he only spoke Italian. It was odd and not fitting for the Italian to be sad so Kiku decided to cheer him up.

"How about I show you how to make him a special lunch so that way he doesn't need a fork?" Feliciano brightened instantly at this prospect.

"Vee~ that sounds like a great idea!" Kiku smiled and got them both an apron to use.

"Mei listen out for Alfred when he arrives please, we'll be in the kitchen." Kiku called down stairs.

"Yes brother," Came Mei's muffled reply from her sewing room.

"Vee~ Lets get started!"

Barely half an hour later, just after Kiku had taught Feliciano how to make a proper rice ball, the doorbell rang. Kiku jumped and washed his hands, hearing Mei downstairs opening the door to the guests. "Ah~ Alfred you're here! And who is this?"

"Hey Mei! This is Arthur my room mate, where's Kiku?"

"Upstairs, go say hi then come back so I can start. Arthur you stay with me so I can measure you up~"

"Don't worry Arthur, Mei is really nice so just do what she says Ok?"

"... Ok."

Kiku felt himself go tense as the tell tale foot steps ascended the stairs. Downstairs was the man who had stolen Alfred's attention from him. Feliciano put a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

"Vee~ I'm here if you need Kiku." He smiled.

"Thank you Feli-kun."

The stairs creaked as the Alfred had almost reached the top. His head was the first thing to appear, his blond hair slick from the snow and his bright smile beaming.

"Hey Kiku! I would say that it's been a while but I saw you last night." He shrugged and walked over to the pair.

"Vee~ Hello Alfred! I haven't seen you in a while~" Feliciano stepped forward and hugged him. Alfred awkwardly hugged him back. He had never quite gotten used to Feliciano's hugs but he hugged everyone so he couldn't really complain.

"Hello Alfred," Kiku bowed his head slightly though his eyes were on the staircase, fearing that Arthur would walk up any second. "I trust you got home safely then?"

Alfred puffed out his chest. "Well of course I did!" He stated as though it was an obvious fact.

"Vee~ you must be very strong~ Oh! I know someone else who's very strong his name is Lu-"

"OHMY GOD!" Mei's shriek from downstairs caught everyone's attention and soon all three men were running downstairs. Alfred was the first to reach the door of Mei's sewing room. He threw open the door, unsure of what to expect from the shriek but what he did see meant that he had a lot of explaining to do.

Arthur stood on the other side of the room, as far from Mei was he could get, his eyes wide in fear, clearly shocked from the shriek.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked. Mei was standing closer to the door, pointing at the large shapes on Arthur's back. The angel looked up at him, his small form shaking.

"Alfred?" Kiku whispered beside him, his eyes never leaving Arthur.

"Yes Kiku?" Alfred asked as he slowly walked into the room, trying not to spook Arthur anymore then Mei had.

"Is Arthur... What I think he is?" All eyes turned to Alfred for an explanation while the America was still trying to get to Arthur.

"Uhh... I suppose you could say that." Alfred stretched out his hand, smiling when Arthur took it. "I guess I have some explaining to do."

Ahahaha wow this took a while D: Truthfully I had half of it done but stopped and continued with my pirate fic first cause I had the inspiration to do that one and this one seems really jumpy… Well he was almost caught (SO very close) and I love entwining people : ) which is why Feliciano is Kiku's friend as they're both medical people and now he knows about Arthur ^^ yay~ Thanks for all the reviews faves and alerts!

Sorry if this seems rushed! I wrote 8 pages in 5 hours and re-wrote the ending three times D:


	8. Dono yō ni sofuto

"So... Let me see if I have this correct... You found Arthur-san three days ago in a tree."

"Yup."

"You took him home and treated him."

"Uh-huh."

"You discovered that he might come from a lab and that you think Mathew's boy friend Gilbert may be part of it."

"Spot on."

"And now you want Mei to alter his clothes to allow his wings room?"

"Right! See, it wasn't that hard to understand." Alfred grinned and grabbed his cup of coffee. Feliciano, Kiku and Mei all stared at him, confused that he thought such a story could be considered even the slightest bit valid.

After the incident downstairs, Arthur hadn't let go of Alfred's hand, his eyes darting around and his movement twitchy and erratic. Kiku had managed to keep any rude remarks about their closeness from bursting out from his mouth though. It wouldn't do to insult Arthur while he was frightened. However...

"I would like to speak to Alfred alone... If you don't mind Arthur-san."

The green-eyed angel looked directly at him, many emotions flitting through his eyes before nodding slowly.

"N-no, I don't mind." He said softly, his voice no louder then a whisper. Alfred shrugged and stood, only pausing when Arthur took a moment too long to let go of his hand.

"I'll only be in the next room, 'kay Arthur? Feliciano and Mei are really nice people so don't panic." Alfred gave Arthur's shoulders a quick squeeze before following Kiku into the kitchen. "So! What's on your mind?" He smiled and leaned against the counter once they were alone. Kiku shut the door and let out a soft sigh.

"Please don't take this the wrong way Alfred, but I think you should take Arthur-san to the authorities and let them deal with him." He said as quickly as possible. The smile fell from Alfred's face and was swapped with a confused expression. "Arthur-san looks like a victim of genetic mutation," Kiku continued before Alfred could interject. "And if you get mixed up in the dark side of the government I can guarantee that you won't live long." Kiku's usually calm brown eyes flickered with worry. "These people are doing horrible, horrible things Alfred and if you died because of that..." He trailed off to look down at his feet. Kiku couldn't say that he couldn't live without Alfred; it was too much of a personal thing to say.

Alfred's fingers brushed his shoulder making him jump and look up. The American had crossed the room and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, his blue eyes shone in the kitchen light. "Hey, I'm not stupid, I'm a doctor you know, I'm aware that where Arthur's from isn't a good place I mean, poor guy had been shot when I found him... But if I took him to the police what if the government just paid people off to get him back? Arthur's wary but also very trusting." Alfred turned his head slightly, looking towards the closed door as if he could see Arthur on the other side. "I promised not to let him get captured again and it's what I plan to do, even if it means I have to smuggle him out of the country to somewhere safer."

Kiku sighed and placed his own hand over Alfred's. "I know you want to help him, that's the person you are Alfred, but I honestly think that you need to think of your own wellbeing first... And if not yours then your brothers, they don't just come after you..." Kiku hated using this method to get through to Alfred. It made him feel like a bad guy trying to disrupt the hero but he needed Alfred to realize that by taking care of Arthur he was going to get himself or others hurt.

Alfred retracted his hand slowly and looked at the floor then the window as an exceptionally large gust of wind battered against it. There appeared to be a freak snowstorm happening outside. Alfred watched the window for a while before turning back to Kiku.

"Mathew... Is prepared to do as much as me on this, we both want to help Arthur the best we can." He began. "But if we find that this will get us into too much trouble... I promise to get the authorities involved." Kiku peered intently into Alfred's face, trying to figure out whether or not he was telling the truth. If Alfred found a just cause he would stick to it even if he had to lie to protect people.

"I can't tell whether or not you're lying Alfred, so I guess I'll have to trust you." He said. Alfred smiled and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I promised right?"

"Yes, but you promised Arthur-san first so I'm worried that you'll use that one as an excuse to ignore this promise." Kiku explained. Alfred chuckled as he walked over to the window.

"You know me too well." Kiku smiled back and looked out the window at the ever-growing snowstorm. "Looks like we'll be hanging out for a while longer." Alfred stared at the white snow that poured from the clouds above.

"Yes looks like it." The small man answered. "Would you like to help me make some hot chocolate for everyone?" Alfred turned to Kiku and gave him a thumbs up.

"When wouldn't I!"

* * *

Tired.

Cranky.

Hyped on coffee.

All these things would have described Gilbert perfectly as he trudged slowly through the snow to Alfred's apartment. After returning to his own apartment to retrieve some equipment, Gilbert had decided to raid Alfred's apartment for clues. Even if he could just get a blood sample off subject sevens book then he would be convinced that Alfred was indeed hiding him there.

Gilbert ignored the two young girls leaving the building who both turned to stare quite obviously at his ass (it was pretty awesome in his opinion) and continued to the elevator. While in the elevator he pulled out a spare key he had made from Mathew's key and fiddled with it in his hand. He didn't know how much time he had before Alfred or Mathew came back home so he had to make this quick.

The elevator dinged loudly announcing his stop and he stepped out into the hall and walked to the door. He slowly placed the spare key in the lock and turned, past experiences reminding him that to keep the element of surprise it was better to do it slowly and keep quiet.

The door clicked open and he turned the knob, again slowly. Inside there was no noise of any sort leaving Gilbert to assume that the apartment was empty. He stepped inside tentatively and locked the door behind him. No need to let anyone know this was where he was hiding.

Alfred's apartment was surprisingly neat and tidy while it smelt like... French toast and coffee. Gilbert smiled when he realized Mathew must have cooked breakfast. He still remembered the few times he'd been lucky enough to have breakfast made for him by Mathew. The Albino shook his head of his memories and turned to the lounge room where the book was still sitting on the coffee table.

Gilbert smirked and strode towards it. What luck! He had thought that Mathew would have had moved it after he saw it yesterday but it was still sitting on the table as grimy as before. He knelt down beside the coffee table and slipped a pair of plastic gloves on. He then pulled out a swab and a small tube. "Always need to be prepared," he muttered as he turned page after page before finding a rather new bloodstain. He swiped the swab against the stain a few times to make sure he got a decent sample before placing it in the tube. Gilbert then closed the book and moved on to his next location.

Mathew had made him suspicious about Alfred's room last time he had been here and seeing as he had let himself into the apartment he could now let himself into Alfred's room. Gilbert flicked the lights on and gazed at the slightly messy room. There were few clothes strewn around the room but none of it looked at all suspicious.

Gilbert chewed on the inside of his cheek as he peered into the closet. It looked pretty messy in there, which he considered odd for a closet but as he had never seen Alfred's closet before this he couldn't be sure that it had been clean before. He frowned as he peered at the clothes more closely. They didn't look like someone had simply thrown them on the floor but more like someone had wrapped something up in them. Someone was wrapped up in them? Gilbert stepped into the closet and started to pull the clothes apart until he found what he was looking for.

A feather. A long, white feather with a small bloodstain on the tip. Gilbert felt the corners of his mouth stretched up into a smirk. He had him. He had proof now that Alfred was harboring subject seven.

Life was sweet!

* * *

Arthur would have given up a limb to get out of the awkward situation Alfred had left him in. The brown haired man with the vacant expression and the dark haired girl who had shrieked at him earlier had not stopped staring at him since Alfred and Kiku had left. Their eyes gazing over his wings like he was the most interesting thing in the world to them.

Arthur wrapped his arms around his middle to comfort himself. He was wearing pants and Alfred's singlet yet he still felt like he was naked and exposed. Arthur decided he didn't like this feeling.

"Vee~ Excuse me Mr. Arthur?" Arthur looked up at the brown haired man that Alfred had called Feliciano.

"Umm y-yes?" He answered weakly.

"May I... Touch your wings?" He asked softly. The girl, Mei, nodded eagerly.

"Please, they look so soft." She smiled at him. Arthur looked between the two, weighing up his options before deciding that they couldn't do any harm. After all, Alfred was in the next room if he needed help. Arthur licked his lips and slowly opened his good wing to as far as it would go as an invitation. Mei and Feliciano smiled at each other before standing up and walking around the table to where he was sitting. He closed his eyes, flinching as he felt two pairs of hands lightly grip his wing and stroke it.

"W-wow! It's softer then it looks!" Mei giggled as she ran her fingers down the wing gently.

"Vee~ this is amazing! Arthur? Can you fly?" Feliciano was rubbing his cheek against the wing and smiling. Arthur blushed at the treatment and nodded again.

"Yes, I-I can fly." He answered. Mei and Feliciano both turned to him with wide eyes.

"That's so cool! I wish I could fly, is it fun?"

"Have you ever touched a cloud?"

"Ever flown with a flock of birds?"

"How do you take off and land?"

"Have you ever carried another person?"

Arthur shrunk back in his seat, nervous about all the questions being directed at him. They were coming so fast that he didn't even have time to formulate an answer before the next question was hurled at him. "Hey guys calm down! You're bombarding him with too many questions." Arthur turned back to the kitchen door were the familiar American accent was coming from. Alfred was standing in the doorway with two cups in his hands while Kiku stood behind him with two cups in his hands too. "We come bearing hot chocolate!" Alfred grinned as he placed a cup in front of Arthur and one where Mei was sitting before going back to get his. Kiku placed one cup where Feliciano was sitting and then sat down with his.

"Oh but you have to feel his wings Kiku! They're so soft!" Mei smiled as she let go of his wing to retrieve her hot chocolate. Arthur slowly picked up his cup and sipped it. It tasted slightly different to how Mathew had made it but still enjoyable. When Feliciano finally let go of his wing to go drink his hot chocolate Arthur retracted his wing and folded it behind his back.

"I'm sure they are but it would be rude of me to touch them without an invitation." Kiku said as he sipped his own drink. Arthur frowned and stared directly at Kiku.

"You can, if you... Want." Alfred grinned at him and he smiled back, happy that he had said another grammatically correct sentence. Kiku didn't understand the smile that passed between Alfred and Arthur but now that he had been offered he couldn't say no.

Kiku slowly stood and made his way over to Arthur who had once again opened his good wing and stretched it out. The Japanese man tentatively reached out and touched the white feathers that appeared to have a few stains covering them. Feliciano and Mei were right; his wings were incredibly soft. It made him want to fall asleep on one of them they were that soft but though he knew he shouldn't still be thinking it he couldn't acknowledge that Arthur wasn't a rival competing for Alfred.

The looks Alfred continued to give him looked too fond to be just a friend but he knew that Alfred as straight and therefore the feelings just had to be ones of fatherliness. Arthur's looks however filled him with dread. His eyes shown with adoration whenever Alfred looked at him and he couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at how close Arthur could get to Alfred.

"Vee~ Kiku?" Feliciano's voice caused him to blink and look down at his hands, which had been gripping Arthur's wing tightly. He smiled apologetically and let go of the wing before making his way back to his seat. What was wrong with him?

Arthur tucked his wing behind him again feeling slightly put out by Kiku's behavior. The small man had looked very troubled as he touched Arthur's wing, which led Arthur to believe that he was causing Kiku some kind of internal grief. The table sat in an awkward silence while they finished their hot chocolates. Mei then announced that she would finish Arthur's measurements and start straight away on his clothing.

"I hope you don't mind us staying longer but I don't think the storm is going to let up for a while." Alfred smiled as he grabbed Arthur's, Kiku's and his empty cups.

"I already said it's fine Alfred." Kiku said as he grabbed the rest of the cups. "Why don't we play the new game I got while we wait?" Alfred grinned.

"Sounds good to me!" He answered as he washed out the cups. Mei had finished measuring Arthur up when they returned and she had already begun to measure up the clothes they had bought. Arthur was watching her intently, curious to see what she was going to do with his clothes.

"We're going to play that game I got the other day Mei, if it's too loud let me know." Kiku said as he turned the television on and pulled the game out of its case. Alfred whooped and grabbed a pillow, threw it on the floor and sat down while Feliciano sat on the couch and watched.

The storm raged on for hours and soon afternoon became evening. Alfred yelled loudly as Kiku once again destroyed his character in a playful battle. "Looks like I win again Alfred." Kiku chuckled as his character danced in victory.

"Aw man! I'll win the next battle you can beat on that Kiku!" Alfred vowed.

"Will you two keep it down? You keep startling Arthur!" Mei complained from the table. Alfred turned around to apologize when he saw that Arthur was sewing too. Arthur turned to look at him with his bright green eyes as he held up the material in his hand.

"Is Arthur sewing too?" He asked, ignoring the game for a moment. Mei nodded and smiled encouragingly at Arthur.

"He's a natural! And he learns quickly too." She added as she finished her second top. Both dress shirts had been altered so that all Arthur had to do was slip into it and poke his wings through the slits made at the back. The slits reached from just below the collar where his wings connected to his shoulder blades all the way down the edge of his shirt. Buttons were then carefully placed so that once his wings were through the holes all he had to do was button them up to where his wings were and done! Arthur's punk tops were done in a similar manor except that instead of buttons she had used zips to add to the punk effect however the sweater vests were going to have buttons like the dress shirts.

Arthur was currently working on the second dress shirt while Mei was working on the second punk shirt. He was going slowly and carefully but she was pleased with progress. If he practiced even more he could be really good at sewing one day! Alfred grinned, happy that Arthur had found something to do that pleased him (Even if it was sewing) and turned back to his game with Kiku. He was so going to win this round.

Feliciano smiled lazily as he watched Alfred and Kiku play however his thoughts were elsewhere. He wondered if he made the lunch that Kiku had shown him would Ludwig notice his feelings? Would he reject the lunch? He didn't even know if Ludwig was gay! Feliciano sighed softly. Ludwig was so strict that he hardly ever let anything slip. He changed the subject whenever his brother's sexuality was brought up and never answered if someone asked him if he had a girlfriend. Feliciano had come to the conclusion that Ludwig wasn't much into relationships.

He sighed once more and titled his head back so that he was watching Arthur and Mei sew upside down. He needed to concentrate on getting his brother into the country first then worry about relationships. His brother was the most important person to him and he needed Feliciano right now. The Italian looked back at where Kiku was still beating Alfred and smiled sadly. It didn't look like anyone's relationships were going to work.

* * *

Gilbert smirked to himself in triumph as he left Alfred's apartment and made his way downstairs. Everything was going perfectly! He had the proof and he'd gotten out of the apartment without being caught. He strolled confidently down the street through the snow, ignoring the way the snow was slowly increasing. He was in too much of a good mood.

Well, until it was almost psychically impossible to move as the wind blew.

Gilbert cursed the one stroke of bad luck as he made his way across the road to a coffee shop. One of the patrons opened the door for him before closing and locking it again quickly. There were several people huddled inside, drinking hot drinks and waiting for the storm to subside so that they could leave.

With nothing else better to do, Gilbert ordered himself another coffee and moved to another corner of the coffee shop where some girls were talking. He sipped his coffee and stuffed one hand in his pocket, lightly touching the plastic bag with the feather and tube in it. Gilbert stared out the window, watching the whirlwind of white swirl outside. He hopped the storm cooled down soon or he wouldn't be able to get his findings to the lab till late.

"-Did you girls hear that Alfred, you know the one I dated? Did you know that he's gay?" Gilbert blinked as he slowly tuned into the conversation happening between the three girls sitting next to him. They surely couldn't be talking about Mathew's brother Alfred. He was straight or so Gilbert thought. They were probably talking about another Alfred, Gilbert decided and started to tune out.

"You mean Alfred F. Jones? But he's a well known ladies man!" Another girl gasped. Gilbert frowned as he started listening again. So they were talking about the Alfred he knew. Why were they calling him gay?

"That's what I thought," The first girl said. "But I saw him the other day with his brother, that gay one Mathew? Well they were with this short guy who defended Alfred!" Gilbert bristled at the way she talked about his boyfriend and decided to risk a look to see who this chick was. His eyes widened as he saw Alfred's ex girlfriend Michelle. She sipped her drink while her two friends prompted her to tell the whole story.

"Well, my boyfriend was insulting him and his brother," She lied shamelessly. "When he steps up and slaps him right across the face! So I grabbed him and we left but Alfred had looked at him really sweetly, like they were really close. There's no other explanation." She shrugged and sipped from her drink again.

"What did the guy look like? Maybe I can get one of my friends to ask around at the gay clubs to see if it's true." The third girl said. Michelle paused and looked up at the ceiling. Gilbert frowned as he unintentionally leaned closer to their conversation.

"He was pretty much covered in clothes so I couldn't see much but he had really thick eyebrows, these bright green eyes and I believe Al called him Arthur or something like that. So yeah anyways-"

Gilbert stopped listening as she moved onto another topic. He moved back to standing up straight and looked back out the window again. The whirlwind of snow outside no longer made him feel angry. Not now that he had confirmation.

Subject seven was his for the taking.

* * *

**Ok : D wow this took forever. I don't have much to say except that this is my shortest chapter for this story yet and the next one will most likely be my longest xD;; a lot's going to happen next chapter. Also, in regards to how it will end, I've put up a poll on my profile and I was wondering if you guys could do it? It'll help me make up my mind on how to end this story ^^ Much obliged! **


	9. Кошмар

Arthur yawned loudly as he finally finished his first sewing project while Mei was still finishing the last of his shirts off. Mei looked up and smiled kindly at him. "You can sleep next to the heater if you like." She said and gestured towards a white box shaped object. Arthur watched it curiously. He had seen Kiku turn it on earlier to 'heat the place up'. Mei took the sweater from him to inspect it so Arthur could sleep by the heater.

When he stood up he looked over at where Kiku and Alfred were playing a loud explosive game. Alfred had complained that he couldn't win so Kiku had changed the game to something where they were working together. Feliciano hadn't moved from his place on the couch so Arthur had assumed that he fallen asleep.

Sleep. Now that sounded nice. He healed faster when he was asleep anyways. Arthur crouched down in front of the heater, smiling as the warm breeze blew his hair around gently. He curled up on his side so that his back was facing the heater, his uninjured wing leaning against the material of his top. "Mmm..." He smiled as the heat slowly sent him to sleep. Warm, just like Alfred's bed had been...

He didn't know how long he slept but Alfred woke up him up gently shaking his shoulders. "Hey Artie, Kiku and Feli are going to make us some dinner then we're going home OK?" Arthur blinked slowly at Alfred and sat up, feeling slightly disorientated.

"G-git," He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. "Don't call me Artie." Alfred grinned and went to get the rest of Arthur's clothes to put on. Kiku and Feliciano weren't in the room anymore and Mei was packing up her equipment quickly so as to clear the table. Arthur stood up and yawned again, stretching his wing out at the same time.

"It's all done," Mei announced as Arthur came walked up to the table. Arthur smiled as he gazed at her handy-work. "If they rip or a button falls out just come back and I'll show you how to fix it." She added.

"Thank you... May." He attempted to pronounce her name. Mei giggled as she grabbed the rest of her needles and thread.

"It's Mei, you have to emphasize the 'e' more so it's more of a 'meh' sound." Alfred smiled encouragingly. Arthur frowned as he tried saying her name again.

"Thank you... Mei." Mei beamed and waved her hand dismissively.

"Think nothing of it, it was a… Interesting project." She giggled and left to take her things downstairs leaving Alfred and Arthur alone. The American grabbed the rest of Arthur's clothes and stuffed them into his backpack. Arthur looked up at Alfred and smiled shyly. He was incredibly grateful for everything Alfred and Mathew were doing for him. From food to shelter to even his clothes, Arthur had never imagined that there could be a life outside of the laboratory. It just seemed too far from his reach; yet here he was. Now all he needed to do was to rescue Ivan then he could say he'd fulfilled his life dreams.

"Alfred? W-When will I be fixed... Pre... Pro-properly?" He asked, eager to get to rescue his friend. Who knew what the Doctor was doing to him while he wasn't there. Alfred raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Uhh... Well I'm guessing at the rate at which your healing you should be good by tomorrow? But I'd probably wait couple of extra days, you know, in case you need some extra time for healing." Alfred answered. "Here, let me take a look at it while we wait for dinner." He motioned with his hand for Arthur over to the table where he got Arthur to sit down. "Ok shirt off." He instructed, instantly going into Doctor Jones mode. Arthur grabbed his singlet and started to pull it over his head, he had some trouble with his other wing, which wasn't strapped to his side, but other, then that it came off smoothly. He was getting the hang of singlets.

Alfred lightly gripped the top of Arthur's wing where he had been shot. The area still seemed slightly tender but had healed up nicely in Alfred's opinion. Arthur flinched once as Alfred touched his wing but quickly relaxed. He had nothing to fear from Alfred so it was silly to worry every time he touched his wings.

"Good?" Arthur asked as he reached around to touch his wing himself. He could feel that it didn't hurt as much but he wanted to make sure with his own hands. His fingers brushed Alfred's accidentally but Alfred didn't move his hand and Arthur didn't want to. He paused his exploration of his wing to look up at Alfred. His eyes met with Alfred's rather surprised looking blue eyes. He felt his cheeks heat up and looked away but he didn't move his hand.

"Hmm..." Alfred mumbled his face, too, had turned a light shade of red. "M-maybe you should but my singlet back on..." He said softly, retracting his hand. Arthur pulled back his hand and stared at it, hoping that the tingling sensation in his fingers and the fluttering feeling in his stomach would go away. The feeling was too unfamiliar for Arthur to feel comfortable with it.

He grabbed the singlet off the table where he had left it and slipped it over his head carefully, slipping his good wing through the hole and pulling it down over his stomach. He looked back up at Alfred who was looking away, his face had gone even redder and he looked nervous. "I-I'm going to go check on dinner Kay?" Before Arthur could comment, Alfred left and made his way to the door that he had disappeared through earlier leaving Arthur very confused.

"Hey guys!" Alfred grinned as he burst through the door to the kitchen. "How's dinner going?" Kiku looked up as he entered.

"Ah, going good Alfred, it's almost finished." Kiku smiled as he gathered bowls, forks and knives.

"Mmmm smells good! Spaghetti?" Alfred asked, as he smelt the air.

"Vee~ Of course!" Feliciano smiled as he pulled the large pot of spaghetti sauce off the stove. "It's my specialty~" Alfred grabbed the bowls off Kiku and took them into the lounge room, blinking when he saw Arthur was still looking at his hand.

"Artie?" The angel jumped and looked up, surprised, before scowling at him.

"Arthur you git!" Alfred smiled, feeling relieved that the moment they had had earlier had passed and Arthur hadn't questioned it.

"Sorry, Ar-thur~" He chuckled and placed the bowls on the table where they had been sitting. Arthur was blushing again, playing with the hem of his singlet instead of looking at Alfred. Kiku walked out a moment later with the knives and forks, placing them neatly by the bowls.

"Would you like a drink Arthur-san?" Arthur nodded slowly, picking up a fork an examining it as he did so.

"When people ask you a question like that and you answer yes, you have to say 'Yes thank you." Alfred grinned and snatched the fork away from him. Arthur glared up at Alfred but turned to Kiku.

"Yes, thank you." He said. Alfred beamed and ruffled Arthur's hair proudly.

"I taught you well my child." He joked, dropping his voice to make it sound scarier. Arthur frowned and moved his head away from the American's hand. Kiku bowed his head and left the room, his expression had somewhat calmed.

Dinner was served not too long after and, much to Feliciano's pleasure, Arthur enjoyed the pasta immensely. "Thanks again for helping us out today, remember to keep this secret too guys." Alfred said as they stood in the doorway. Arthur was snuggled up in his clothes, the scarf pulled up to hide his chin, mouth and nose and his beanie pulled down to hide his eyebrows.

"Of course Alfred, nice meeting you Arthur-san." Kiku said and bowed to them both. Arthur bowed in return, copying Kiku's actions. Mei giggled and waved while Felciano smiled and waved.

"Vee~ Take care in the snow~ I hope we can catch up again and make pasta~" He said. Alfred grinned and promised they would before taking Arthur's hand and leading him away through the snow.

* * *

The snow hadn't just damped his clothes that afternoon but his mind also. Gilbert was now faced with a problem.

A big problem.

A problem so incredibly big that it rivalled the size of his ego! Well, maybe not quite that big but it was still a relatively large sized problem.

If he told Francis about Arthur's where about then he would not only get Alfred into trouble but Mathew too. Gilbert definitely did NOT want to get Mathew into trouble. Alfred he could care less about but Mathew... He knew that Francis could be quite ruthless and he feared for the safety of those who got in his way.

'However,' his mind supplied unhelpfully.

If he didn't tell Francis about Arthur's whereabouts then he himself would get into trouble and that could range from a reduce in pay to more... Violent methods. Who knew? Francis might decided that he would make a better soldier then security guard and change him like he was doing to the experiments right now.

Gilbert shuddered and paused in his walk to lean against a half frozen tree. His dilemma was indeed a hard one and required intense thought. On one hand he had Mathew, the love of his life and pretty much his only friend (Besides Ludwig and that Italian guy of course). Then, on the other hand he had Francis, his employer whom he owed for everything he had right now; his job, his apartment, pretty much his whole life. If Francis hadn't hired him who knew where he might have ended up.

Being ex-military made it hard to settle down into a normal, everyday job he had soon found. The excitement of being on a battlefield made everything far duller then he liked and he often had tried to make work more interesting… And then he'd been fired. Gilbert got to use his skills here, his potential. This kind of work was the only one he was suited to and he had made a promise to himself that should he ever be injured because of it and unable to continue then he would take his own life. No one needed a broken soldier.

Gilbert let out a loud sigh, watching as snowflakes began to fall again. He needed to start moving again before another storm hit and it would do soon. "Bumsen." He cussed under his breath, giving the tree behind him a good, swift kick to ease his anger. Unfortunately the vibrations from his kick caused a small amount of snow to fall on his head, slipping down his back, soaking his hair and making him even more furious.

"Mien Gott! What do I do!" He roared at the cloud-covered sky, unable to come up with his own answer. His hand drifted down to his heart where he could feel his heart beat through the layers of clothing. His hand then drifted lower to his pocket where the vial was.

He had to make a decision... And he had to make it before he reached the laboratory.

* * *

Mathew almost fell through the front doors of the apartment building that he and Alfred lived in. The storm that had been raging since the afternoon had delayed his departure from work till eight o' clock and even then it was still going, just not as strong. The blond sighed and wiped some snow from his shoulders and hair. The snow had soaked into his clothes and made everything heavy. Mathew groaned softly as he made his way to the elevator.

He hoped that Alfred and Arthur would be back by the time he did but seeing as the storm hadn't let up for hours he could only hope that they hadn't gotten caught in it. The elevator dinged loudly as it came to a stop. Mathew stepped out of the elevator and over to the door. However, once he was inside, instead of feeling at ease like he usually did, he felt oddly on edge.

Mathew frowned and took off his coat and turned on the heater, hoping to shrug off the odd feeling as wet clothing and a cold apartment. The blond didn't feel any better after a shower or even when he'd changed into dry clothes. Confused, Mathew walked around the apartment, hoping to gain some insight as to why he was feeling so uneasy.

Everything looked the way it had when they had left. Nothing was out of place or off but somehow he still felt strange. Like something had been there earlier. Mathew walked over to the lounge room and settled himself down on the couch while he waited for his brother and the angel.

He had just picked up the remote to turn the television on when something caught his eye. Mathew whirled around to see that Alfred's door was open and not just a little bit open... The entire door was facing inwards. Now that was... Odd. He had sworn that Alfred had closed it completely before they left that morning.

Mathew stood up and slowly made his way over to the open door, peering into Alfred's room tentatively, nervous that they might have a robber.

Just as he was going to look in Alfred's closet, the sound of someone turning a key in the front door caught his attention. Mathew walked back out of Alfred's room just in time to see Alfred and Arthur walk in relatively wet from the snow. "Hey Mattie!" Alfred grinned happily and waved at him. Arthur smiled and waved as well; more reserved then Alfred's over the top actions.

"Welcome home Alfred, Arthur. Where you two at Kiku's this entire time?" He asked casually.

"Hey Arthur, you can go have a shower and get into the pyjama's you were wearing last night Ok?" Arthur nodded and walked past Mathew into Alfred's room to shower while Alfred came over to him to talk about his day.

"Yeah, we got there before the storm but ended up staying longer for dinner, so you'll be eating alone tonight unless you already ate? How long have you been home?" He asked as he placed his backpack down on the counter.

"Oh, I pretty much just got back about half an hour ago and I ate dinner out cause I was stuck at the vets longer then I thought I would." Mathew sighed and rubbed his arms wearily. "Hey Alfred, you haven't changed it so that we get house keeping have you?" Alfred scratched the side of his head, confused.

"Nope! Not that I know of, how come?" Mathew was frowning again. How come whenever Mathew frowned it was over something really, really bad?

"Well, when I got home... Your door was open... And I was sure that when you left your door wasn't open."

"Are you sure you're not just being a bit paranoid?" Alfred scoffed. "I mean, I could have simply just left the doors open and you might not have noticed." He shrugged at his brother who looked more then just a little annoyed.

"I'm positive there was someone here Al, I have this odd feeling, like someone was intruding here." Mathew turned his back on Alfred and walked into the kitchen, turning on the kettle. "Can't you feel it too? Like some stranger has invaded your space?" Alfred shook his head.

"I think you're being paranoid, there was no one here and there's nothing wrong... I'm going to go get changed, it's too cold to be walking around in wet gear." Alfred left the pack on the counter and disappeared into his room, closing it behind him. Mathew glared at the closed door, hoping that Alfred could feel it even behind it. Mathew was absolutely positive that there had been someone there... No matter what Alfred said.

The blond American sighed and situated himself onto his bed as he waited for Arthur to finish up in the shower. He couldn't agree with Mathew because he didn't feel like there had been someone in his apartment... All he felt was this awkward butterfly like fluttering in his insides. It had been there ever since Arthur had touched his hand earlier at Kiku's place.

"AAH!" He groaned as he laid back on his bed sinking into the mattress. Why was this so confusing? Why was he even debating in his head what it might feel like to kiss the angel? It was wrong! Well, not wrong, like homosexuality is wrong 'cause he fully supported it! But wrong as in why was he having these feelings in the first place?

Alfred peeked at the bathroom door behind which Arthur was most likely washing himself- Manly thoughts! Manly thoughts! He never thought like this when he first brought the angel in! He blushed like mad and rolled over so that half his face was buried in the bed. Maybe he could sleep on the couch tonight and let Arthur have the bed alone... Better then to tempt his dark desires.

So completely wrapped up in his own thoughts, Alfred didn't even hear the shower stop running, the sounds of a towel being used or when the door was opened. Arthur stepped lightly out of the bathroom, watching Alfred lying on his bed looking like he was asleep. The smaller blond walked over and leaned over the bed, peering down. Alfred's eyes flicked up to meet Arthur's and he willed himself not to panic. It wasn't like Arthur could read thoughts and knew that he was thinking about him!

"I-I'm going to take a shower now!" He pushed himself up off the bed, almost bumping into Arthur, and ran into the bathroom. A cold shower would be great right about now.

Arthur watched, confused, as Alfred bolted for the bathroom. He frowned and left the bedroom. Mathew was pottering around the kitchen, washing dishes while the television went on in the background. Arthur instantly recognized the show as the one with Detective Kirkland and sat down on the couch to watch it. Mathew came and joined him not too soon after and Alfred joined them not too soon after Mathew. All three remained quiet for their own reasons during the show.

Mathew was thinking about his feelings from earlier and was quiet because he was still angry at Alfred for being a jerk about it. Alfred was quiet as he was still trying to figure out his feelings in relation to Arthur and why the funny feeling that had settled in the bottom of his stomach wasn't hunger. Arthur was simply quiet because he enjoyed the show, loving how confident Detective Kirkland was and how literate he could be. He was envious of Detective Kirkland's ability to control situations, to take on people bigger then him and stay strong without breaking down in bad situations.

Arthur played with the feathers on his wing while they watched as Detective Kirkland and James were almost killed by the serial killer. He gasped several times but somehow Detective Kirkland saved both him and James, AND caught the murderer. When the show finished he yawned, signally that it was time to sleep.

"Hey Arthur, you sleeping in my bed?" Alfred asked, not moving from his spot. Arthur nodded and headed towards the bedroom.

"Good night." He smiled before disappearing into the bedroom.

"Night Artie! Ow!"

"Good night Arthur!" Mathew called after him. Arthur assumed that Mathew whacked Alfred for the horrible misuse of his name.

When Arthur had closed Alfred's bedroom door Mathew turned to his brother, his violet eyes a darker lavender colour with rage.

"He doesn't like it when you call him Artie, Al, stop it." Alfred frowned at Mathew, unable to grasp why his brother was being so adamant about him giving Arthur a nickname.

"Is this about that 'feeling' you had earlier?" Alfred snorted as he leaned back on the couch. He could see his brother's form tremble with anger like when he watched a hockey game and his team was losing.

"You still don't believe me? Augh! Why can't you listen to someone else for once Al? Why do you have to be so stubborn!" Mathew stood up in a huff and stalked off to his room, ending their argument with the slam of his door.

Alfred sat in silence for a moment, nothing but the television going in the background. A late night report about how much snow fell today, what the weather would be for the next week, how America was holding a meeting next month to warn some of the countries about the rumours of them rising against the great country and that he should expect more storms un the upcoming weeks… Normal news.

Sulking wasn't going to do him much, Alfred decided, so he checked that both doors were locked properly before heading to his room. Inside Arthur was already curled up asleep on the bed, so Alfred had to tip toe around to brush his teeth and change into his own pyjamas.

Alfred then slipped into bed with him before removing his glasses. It seemed the moment he turned off the light, Arthur immediately snuggled up to him, curled up with his head on Alfred's chest as though it was completely normal. Maybe to Arthur it was, but certainly not to the American. Alfred couldn't help but blush at their proximity but he couldn't convince him self to move the angel, not when he looked that peaceful.

Deciding that it couldn't be helped, Alfred moved slightly so that he could wrap an arm around Arthur, essentially pulling him closer but making it slightly more comfortable for Alfred him self. He heard Arthur sigh happily in his sleep and was then curious to know what he was dreaming about but he couldn't wake the blonde up or he'd be in trouble (from both Arthur AND Mathew).

"Alfred…" Arthur mumbled into the American's chest, his words vibrating the skin softly and sending tingles down Alfred's spine. Alfred quickly felt his face heat up again, forcing him to look away despite Arthur not being able to see him. He wasn't sure why the angel affected him in this way but he wasn't sure that he didn't like it…

Without another thought Alfred willed him self to attempt sleep, hoping that by morning his head will have cleared itself and he would know how to handle the situation.

* * *

It took Arthur a few moments for his eyes to stop being bleary and become focused in the darkness early the next morning. He had woken up with no indication as to why except the sound of Alfred's breathing near his head and the gentle beating of his heart in his chest. Arthur yawned and sat up, frowning when he felt Alfred's arm slid off his body and land on the bed with a dull thud. It was then that he realised.

There was no pain in his wing.

Absolutely no pain in his wing at all and it left him feeling wonderfully happy and giddy. But he still had to make sure. Without waking Alfred, Arthur slipped out of the bed and out of the bedroom softly shutting the door behind him.

Mathew's door was still closed and he wasn't sure about going past his room to the front door so he tried his other option. Turned out that he only had to flick a few switches before he figured out how to open the sliding glass door that lead to the snow-covered balcony. Arthur stepped tentatively out into the cold, grimacing slightly as the snow started to freeze his feet. That wouldn't matter in a moment though, he thought as he began to remove his shirt.

His bad wing was still attached to his body but he easily peeled off the bandages and let them flutter to the ground. Stretching his now healed wing out he smiled as the lights below illuminated it, giving it the appearance of glowing. Without another thought, Arthur stood up on the balcony's rail, taking a deep breath in and then out. He then threw himself forward, more or less leaping into the air before gravity pulled him downwards. He free fell for a moment before turning his wings up and twisting upwards towards the clouds.

He was filled by a sense of euphoria as he soared higher and higher into the sky as though he'd be able to touch the clouds above him. Arthur beamed as he glided through the air, free as, well, a bird. He turned his right wings feathers again, changing direction and then going into a spiralling dive, turning out at the last second to return to soaring high in the sky. 'This is how life should be!' He thought, glad that there was no one out to catch him early that morning.

Alfred woke that morning to an empty bed and felt around in a blind panic. Once his glasses were placed on his face he searched for Arthur around the room. "Hey Artie, where are you?" He whispered as he peered into the closet and then the bathroom. The angel was nowhere to be seen!

Alfred opened his bedroom door and looked around the lounge room and kitchen areas but there was still no sign of the blonde man he had rescued. With no other options Alfred ran to Mathew's room and burst inside. "Mattie!" He yelled, disregarding his brother's sleep and turning on the lights. Mathew groaned and rolled over so that his face was buried in his pillow.

"Al! What the hell it's too early for this…" He grunted his voice muffled by the pillow. Alfred grit his teeth, ignoring his brother's protests and pulled the blanket off him. "Eep!" The younger blonde flinched and sat up, sending his brother a sleepy glare. "What! What do you want? I'm not going to help you defeat any big bosses on your game if that is what this is about…" Alfred handed his brother his glasses.

"Arthur's gone and I can't find him!" Mathew looked up at his brother's panic stricken face and decided that he wasn't trying to pull a prank.

"… Are you sure? He hasn't just gone to the toilet or to get a glass of water?" Mathew was being logical that Alfred knew but he'd already checked the whole apartment! He didn't feel very logical at that moment.

"No, I opened my eyes and couldn't see him so I came straight to you, of course I checked everywhere!" He replied sarcastically. Mathew frowned at him and slid out of bed, wearing only a pair of Canadian flag boxers.

"You woke me up at…" Mathew paused to look at the clock. "4:12 am and you expect me to know everything you've just done this morning." He said with bite. "Look, lets just find Arthur so I can go back to sleep, he's probably watching TV." Alfred left his brother in his room and returned to the lounge room.

His apartments set out was so that everything was open making it look like he had a lot of space. He swallowed and licked his lips, fear that someone might have kidnapped him from the apartment settling in the pit of his stomach. Mathew joined him not soon after having put on a shirt. "Hey did you leave the door open?" Mathew asked, shuddering slightly and rubbing his arms. Alfred frowned again and turned to see the balcony door open.

How had he not noticed that?

Both blondes rushed simultaneously to the door and stumbled out into the snow. "Arthur!" Alfred yelled, immediately running over to the balcony railing and looking over the edge. "Oh please! Don't say he jumped!" But he couldn't see any bloody body at on the snow below so he let out a large sigh of relief.

"Hey Al, isn't this what Arthur was wearing?" He turned around to se Mathew holding up a Captain America shirt that had been left on the ground. Alfred grabbed his favourite shirt and held it close. Arthur had left it on the ground to get wet! That little- When Alfred found him he was going to get an earful!

A strange sound distracted his thoughts of mild revenge as Mathew ad he turned to look out into the sky where the snow was falling thickly. The noise began to get louder, like the beating of… Wings! The brothers stared in a mixture of awe and amazement as Arthur soared overhead, his large wings white and magnificent as they beat the air continuously. Arthur swooped them and smiled as he rose into the air again before twirling up into the sky.

Alfred gasped as he gripped the railing. Arthur looked so happy and natural flying up in the sky, like he truly belonged there and no where else. The brothers watched for a while longer as Arthur showed off his flying ability through dives, swooping and soaring before Alfred called him back with a wave of his hand. Arthur dived towards the balcony, turning up at the last second to beat his wings furiously and allowing him self to perch on the railing. Alfred smile and wrapped his arms around Arthur's legs, picking him up and then putting him down on the snow.

"Arthur," He breathed, placing one of his hands on the smaller man's face. Arthur gazed up at Alfred, his emerald eyes twinkling in the illuminated light. Arthur looked delectable in the snow and Alfred was finding it harder and harder to resist his desires. It was certainly a surprise to the American when he leaned down and gently pressed his lips lightly against Arthur's in a chaste kiss. While he then deepened the kiss, his hands proceeded to move around so that one was resting just above Arthur's bottom and the other between his wings holding the smaller blondes body close to his own.

The moment seemed so magical he never wanted it to end but you know what they say about all good things…

"So you turned out to be a fag after all eh Jones?" Alfred pushed away from Arthur in surprise and looked up to see Gilbert standing in the doorway with his arm wrapped around Mathew. His brother looked small and weak as the silver haired man held him close to his own body.

"Let Mattie go." He warned, sending Gilbert the frostiest glare he could muster. The Prussian shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly but didn't let go.

"But if you're watching me… Then whose watching Arthur?" A twisted smile spread over Gilbert's face as he pointed to the other corner of the balcony. Alfred whirled around just in time to see a large black shadow engulf Arthur up into its darkness. Arthur's expression changed to look both hurt and frightened before he completely disappeared into the black.

"Arthur!" He yelled and made a dash at the darkness but it vanished before he could even reach it. "Fuck!" Alfred screamed in frustration as he turned back to the other unwelcome guest.

"Poor, poor Jones, if you're not careful you'll lose everyone you love~" Gilbert smirked as he brought out a gun and aimed. Alfred felt the lead hot pain before he even heard the gunshot. He was on his knees in a second of feeling the pain and coughing up blood the next. His hand immediately went to the gunshot wound in his abdomen, his hand came away warm with his own blood making him feel sick. What was wrong with him! He couldn't save Arthur and he couldn't save Mathew.

Alfred looked up at where Gilbert had begun attacking Mathew's neck, his tongue roaming over the blondes skin, biting it and leaving red marks every where his mouth went. His display adding insult to injury, literally.

"Mathew…" Alfred wheezed, reaching out with his bloodied hand to his brother in a pitiful attempt for help. Mathew's violet eyes swivelled to meet with Alfred's blue ones as though he didn't even know Gilbert was there and chilled him to the bone. Alfred froze when he saw no emotion in his brother's eyes, instead he saw a ice covered waste land where his brother didn't care for him any more.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" His brother's voice echoed in his mind as the Mathew in front of him raised Gilbert's gun to his head. "Why?" Mathew asked again.

"Mathew!" Alfred screamed as his brother pulled the trigger and the gun went off in his hands.

* * *

**OMG.**

**AN UPDATE?**

**A VERY ANNOYING CLIFF HANGER?**

**DID MATHEW DIE? **

**WILL I STOP WRITING THIS AND START THE NEXT CHAPTER?**

**Maybe, well, yes, ok but I'm going to force myself to finish Jolly Roger 12 first : ) So very sorry with how long this took and it's not as long as I promised cause I realised that if I did continue from that point then it would be WAY too long for me to put up… So it's in two parts~ **

**I have a few things to tell you people.**

**1, I'm no longer writing this in America's version of English… It wears me out and I'm Australian so I love my o's and u's together so most of you might see this as frustrating… I'm sorry.**

**2, Thank you to all who participated in my poll, it appears that Francis' is going to go crazy . I hope you enjoy it~**

**And 3, The other day I thought 'why the HELL did make the title and chapter's Japanese? Japanese doesn't even play a big part in this story… WTF!' So In a couple of days I'll be changing the title to **Моя прекрасная Ангел **and I'll be renaming the chapters also… I feel like having them in Russian would make more sense~ **

**Thank you for reading and forgive me for not being alive :D**


	10. Целомудренный поцелуй

"MATHEW!"

Alfred screamed himself awake, panting and sweating he made a grab for his glasses on the bedside table and shoved them on to his face. His eyes darted rapidly over the room taking in every inch as his mind processed that he was no longer in the nightmare and instead back in his own bed.

He lay back, swallowing large amounts of air to try and calm him self down. The whole thing had been some horrible nightmare, he convinced himself as he ran a hand through his now sweat drenched hair and slicked it back. Dreams couldn't hurt him… No matter how real they seemed.

"Thank god… Thank god." He mumbled, as a sense of calm enveloped his body while the effect of the adrenaline started to wear off.

That was until he realised that Arthur was not in the bed beside him.

Mathew looked up as Alfred hurtled from his bedroom, practically falling through the doorway before straightening himself out and starring at Arthur with wide eyes.

"Y-you're here! How's your wing? Has it healed?" Arthur, who had been quietly eating what Mathew called cereal, frowned and touched his wing with his left hand.

"Hey Al, are you ok?" Mathew placed a cup of coffee down on the counter in front of his brother who turned to look at him.

"Oh Mattie!" The taller blonde cried, running forward and pulling the violet eyed man into a tight bear hug. Mathew frowned and attempted to hug him back but as his air supply started to run on low he had to squirm to break from his brother's grasp.

"Al what's wrong with you?" Alfred stepped back and took a long swig of his coffee.

"I had a, ah, nightmare… And you kind of killed… Yourself…" Mathew blinked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"So you were freaking out because I killed my self? I'm flattered Al but it was only a dream."

Alfred smiled in his normal goofy way and sat down beside Arthur. It wasn't until Arthur coughed that Alfred realised he was there as the hysterics started all over again.

"Arthur! I almost forgot! I should check your wing to see if it's healed!" He jumped up and went to get a pair of scissors; ignoring the confused look Mathew was giving him. Arthur simply saw it as normal behaviour and began to take off the Captain America shirt he had become fond of wearing. When Alfred turned back he hesitated, his eyes, Mathew noted, took in Arthur's small form in a far different way then that of a doctor viewing a patient.

When Alfred didn't move Arthur turned to look up at him, his green eyes regarding Alfred's still form with a mixture of confusion and boredom. It was then that Mathew decided to step in.

"Hey Arthur, why don't you go watch some TV while I help Al, brush his teeth ok?" He smiled brightly as he grabbed Alfred's shoulders and led him to the older blondes bedroom. Once they were both in the room, Mathew shut the door and turned to his brother.

"Hey Al-" He began.

"I didn't kiss him!" Was Alfred's immediate response, which lead Mathew to frown harder and as he leaned against the wall.

"Who didn't you kiss Al?" He asked, confused and concerned for his older brother. Alfred didn't answer him straight away; instead he paced around the room in an agitated manor.

Mathew grit his teeth and grabbed Alfred's arm to stop him from moving. "Al, seriously, what's got you so riled up this morning? I haven't seen you this stressed since you had to attempt your first surgery." Alfred stood still with Mathew's hand around his arm while he tired to think of a response. Could he tell his brother that he had kissed Arthur in his dream?

"I… Nothing, just the nightmare was weird." He waved his brother off. This was simply too much in the morning for him to handle.

"Nightmare or not Al," Mathew grabbed Alfred's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm your brother and I'm worried about you… Ever since Arthur turned up you've been acting weird and if you don't tell me at least tell Kiku, or someone!" He waved both their arms together. "I like to think if something was wrong you'd tell me, we're family and I won't judge you no matter what."

Alfred looked into his brother's eyes, albeit he couldn't see clearly without his glasses, but he could feel them looking back at him all the same.

"I know, and I think I'm really, very lucky to have a brother like you but… I just don't really want to talk about it right now…" He looked away suddenly unable to meet Mathew's eyes as his dream played back through his mind.

Mathew sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. "I kind of have an idea as to why you're feeling this way… But I won't say it because you seem to be on edge already but please talk to someone if it starts getting too much for you." Alfred nodded, a small feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Mathew knowing about his feelings. Mathew had a good point though. He couldn't keep his feelings secret forever and he certainly would have to tell someone or he'd explode under the stress.

"Thanks Mattie, I know you worry about me… Even when I tell you not to." He smiled and turned back to the bleary form of his bother. "I promised not to let the stress get to me again ok?" Mathew smiled softly; knowing this was the best Alfred would offer him.

"Ok, well you better get ready because it's actually almost noon and I know you have work today." He said as he left his brother's bedroom.

"Haven't forgotten!" Alfred called after him.

When Mathew came back to the kitchen/dinning room, Arthur was studying a banana. The taller blonde smiled and took the banana from him, peeling it, and then passed it back. "Thank you," Arthur smiled and took a bite out of the fruit.

Continuing with the washing up, Mathew thought about what their plan was for today. They couldn't very well leave Arthur alone in the apartment, not with the uneasy feeling he had had yesterday. But if they took him with one of them he would have to be disguised. And if they were to take him with them which one would he go with?

After seeing how uncomfortable Arthur was at the Vet's yesterday Mathew would have opted for Arthur going with Alfred but then he would go to a proper hospital, which would be even worse.

He sighed as he grabbed juice from the fridge and placed it on the counter. He would have to ask Arthur whom he would prefer to go with.

The angel had made his way over to the couch and started to eat his banana while watching some strange show about a couple on the run. Mathew watched it curious to see what Arthur would take from it, as he always seemed to do.

"Arthur?" The blonde in question tilted his head back and looked at Mathew. "Would you rather go with me to the vet's today or with Alfred to the hospital?" Mathew saw the flicker of fear that crossed through Arthur's emerald eyes at the mention of the vet and he knew that despite the fact that the hospital might be worse for him he, that was what he was going to choose.

"With Alfred... Please." Arthur answered. Mathew nodded, already prepared for that answer. Alfred was the one who saved him after all, it was only natural he'd want to be with him.

"That's fine, I'll ask him when he finished getting ready." Mathew smiled and poured him self some juice.

Arthur turned back to watching the strange (and almost as exciting as Detective Kirkland) show. It was about two lovers who seem to be running from the law. They were both thieves, or so he guessed, and they were desperately trying to remain together no matter what.

"I'll give myself up!" The man said as he held his lover close. "And you can live in the country like you always dreamt!"

"No! You mustn't! Please I'd rather live a life on the run with you then no life at all!" She cried and clung to him tightly. The stayed like that before the sound of sirens caught their attention.

"A life in prison isn't one I'd ever want for you," The man said, leading her down an alley towards the docks. "As soon as the chase it off I'll come find you and we'll live together." As he said this he lead her to a boat, giving the driver some money and they pair of them helped the girl aboard.

"But… What if I never see you again?" She had tears running down her cheeks at this point, not even bothering to wipe them away.

"Shhh," The man comforted her, placing a hand on her cheek. "I promise to come find you." The woman leaned forward and brought their lips together in a sweet, caste kiss that didn't last long.

"We have to leave now!" The driver yelled, starting up the boat.

"Good bye my sweet!" The woman called as the boat drifted further and further away from him.

Arthur clutched a pillow against his chest as a hollow feeling of recollection brought him back to the night when Ivan had told Arthur to continue on without him. He closed his eyes, the image of Ivan bleeding on the floor wormed its way into his mind and he couldn't help but let out a small choked sob.

He thought of Ivan often, wishing and hoping that his oldest friend was still alive despite being in the Doctor's company.

"I'm leaving now Arthur, Alfred will take you to work with him, is that alright?" Arthur looked up to see Mathew standing in the kitchen in his uniform for work.

"Um y-yes course it is." He answered, standing up and bowing to him.

"Uhh... oh! You must have learnt that at Kiku's right? You don't need to sorry about bowing here Arthur, it's simply a formality at Kiku's house." Arthur blushed and fidgeted, embarrassed at having done something out of place.

"Ah! Artie! Time to get dressed." Alfred grinned from his bedroom and held up some of his clothes. Arthur scowled at him and looked away.

"Arthur, it is Arthur!" He grumbled. Mathew chuckled and left the two alone, he needed to leave before it started to snow too heavily.

Mathew stepped out of the lobby and into the already blisteringly cold day. He shivered before taking his first steps and that's when he noticed them.

Two men were off to the side of the apartment building smoking in the freezing cold. Mathew continued quickly, hoping that his hesitation wouldn't have let them know he thought of them as any kind of threat.

Usually two men hanging around smoking wouldn't bother Mathew… But he didn't know anyone that would volunteer to smoke out in this weather and after last night he didn't feel like he could trust strangers doing this.

When he was far enough down the road Mathew pulled out his phone and began texting.

"Ok we just need some large coat kind of thing to cover the wings now." Alfred said as he pretended to be a photographer and paced around Arthur with his hands shaped like a rectangle. Arthur blushed and used one of his wings to bat Alfred playfully on the head. They had chosen the gentlemen clothes just so he wouldn't stick out. Now that Mie had fixed them up nicely they were a lot easier to put on.

Alfred had gotten rid of Arthur's bandages, deeming his wing perfect. Arthur smiled and was continuously opening and closing the wing just to make sure it wasn't a dream.

Arthur was lead to Mathew's room where Alfred began to rile through his brother's belongings. He soon found a long dark brown coat that was big enough to sufficiently hide the wings. This outfit was complete with the high scarf and low beanie as it had been the day before and Arthur was ready to go outside!

"Alright! Just let me get ready and we'll be on our way! I'll buy a book at the hospital so you won't get bored, or maybe you wanna come on the rounds with me?" Arthur didn't quite understand what Alfred meant by rounds but nodded his head anyways. "Awesome! I'll be back in a-huh?" Alfred's phone began to sing so the taller blonde left to answer it while Arthur was left looking at himself in the mirror.

Alfred came back not too song later dressed and ready for work. Arthur glanced up and down at his nice black pants, black shoes, and blue-stripped dress shirt and white coat. A small part of him suddenly panicked at the sight of the white coat but he forced himself to see Alfred.

Alfred and not the Doctor.

"Ready?" Alfred asked with his usual enthusiasm. Arthur simply nodded, and reached out for Alfred's hand. He didn't notice the slight hesitation before Alfred grabbed his hand and they were off.

Strangely enough though, Alfred took them a different way out of the apartment. Instead of going down the elevator, they took the stairs to the left of it. Arthur didn't mind of course but he just found it odd that they would take a different way.

Once out on the street, Alfred quickened his pace, forcing Arthur to have to almost run along side him. Alfred was acting very strange today and Arthur wondered if it had something to do with the nightmare he mentioned earlier. He knew from experience that nightmares sometimes compelled people to act differently.

Alfred made sure that Arthur's hand never left his own as they walked. Arthur deeply appreciated this effort and even smiled to himself the few times that Alfred would give his hand a small squeeze. Alfred seemed to be continuously looking around, as though searching for someone.

Behind his glasses Arthur could see his blue eyes filled with worry, as though there was something after them. "Alfred?" He asked softly when they stopped at a red light. Alfred smiled down at him; the worried looks and furtive glances seemed non-existent the moment he smiled. Like everything would be all right.

"Yeah Artie?"

That horrible nickname.

Arthur scowled and looked away. "Nothing." He huffed.

They moment they reached the hospital Arthur felt panic rise within his chest. The inside smelt just like the vets had the day before but instead of being filled with animals it was filled with… People.

Arthur looked from side to side at the amount of people bustling around. He had never seen so many sick people in such a place before and the amount of people wearing those long white coats…

Alfred glanced down at Arthur who had latched onto his entire arm. It would have been quite endearing if he hadn't known why Arthur was doing it in the first place. He placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. "I know you're scared but you have to keep moving, we can't stay put in the open like this, it's not safe." Arthur blinked and looked up at him. Safe? They weren't safe?

He forced down his fear enough to let go of Alfred's arm but he still had a death grip on his hand. Alfred lead him forward again, further into the hospital.

"Alfred… And Arthur-san?" The Japanese man's soft voice caught Alfred's attention.

"Kiku! Hey how are you?" Kiku's eyes slowly lowered to where Arthur and he were holding hands making Alfred slightly uncomfortable. "H-he's scared of hospitals." Alfred quickly explained.

"Ah." Kiku said but he didn't look convinced. "Why is he here then?" While Alfred started to explain to Kiku why Arthur found his eyes drifting around the hospital again till a pair met with his.

The man's eyes looked like they had been watching him for a while. They were intense and some how sinister. Arthur quickly became uneasy and tugged on Alfred's hand.

"Someone… Looking at us." He whispered. Alfred and Kiku immediately turned to see the two men. They stuck out of the crowd with their dark clothing making it painfully obvious that they weren't there for treatment of any sort.

"Kiku-"

"I'll distract them Alfred, take Arthur and escape." Alfred looked at the small man and smiled gratefully.

"Thanks man, I owe you one! Come on Arthur!" The pair began to walk at a fast pace down the hall while Kiku walked over to the two men.

"Are you two here for treatment or two visit a patient?" He asked softly. The taller man glared down at him while the smaller one smiled pleasantly back.

"We're here to see a doctor actually, so if you don't mind!" Kiku was pushed roughly aside into a patient in a wheel chair as the two men started running through the hospital. A nurse came and helped Kiku and the patient up while another was now ringing the police.

'_It wasn't much time, but I hope it helped._' Kiku thought as he made his way to his office. He needed to make a call.

Alfred gripped Arthur's hand tightly as they ran down the hall; weaving between patients, nurses and doctors, ignoring the shouting and indignant yelling behind them, they finally made it to the elevator before the two men could catch them. Kiku had done his job and managed to buy them a few more minutes. Arthur was panting, leaning against the wall for support while Alfred pulled out his phone, a plan quickly forming in his mind.

"Arthur, I need you to be brave today can you do that for me?" Arthur looked sceptically towards Alfred but nodded his head.

"Good, I'm going to give you my phone and then, when we reach the top of the hospital I need you to fly away and hide till Mathew or I calls you, still think you can do that?" Arthur's eyes widened as the phone was pressed into his hands.

"N-no! What about Alfred? Y-you is too big to carry…" The green-eyed man was not about to leave his saviour behind… He promised he would never leave anyone behind after Ivan. Alfred smiled, showing off all his teeth as he placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm a big boy I can handle what ever they throw at me! Now, I need to show you how to use the phone…"

The elevator dinged at its last stop, opening the doo to a dark corridor. "It doesn't go all the way to the top so we have to walk up some stairs from here." Alfred looked down the rest of the stairs; listening carefully he could vaguely make out the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. "Crap, come on Arthur we haven't got much time!"

Alfred was once again dragged Arthur up the stairs to they reached a door. Alfred used his master key to open it and then lock it again once they were outside. Arthur walked through the snow on the roof of the hospital. Up here there was a strong wind blowing and he could feel his wings twitching with anticipation. There was however once problem.

The entire roof was fenced off with sharp metal. He glanced fearfully up at the barbed wire then back at Alfred who too, was contemplating a new strategy. "Ah! I have it."

Alfred pulled off the long coat Mathew had given him, exposing his wings, which opened, glad to have the room to spread. Alfred then took the coat over to the fence and draped it over the top, dulling the barbed wire. "Quick! Climb over and fly away!" Arthur felt panic rise within his chest. He'd never flown from such a height before but that wasn't his initial fear.

There was no way off the roof besides that door so Alfred would get caught no matter what he did. "Alfred," Arthur whined softly, looking towards the door. Alfred caught on quickly to what he was thinking.

"I told you not to worry! Silly angel! I'm a hero, and hero's always come out on top remember?" He smiled and ruffled Arthur's hair, blushing when instead of swatting away his hand like usual Arthur leaned into the touch.

"Careful…" Arthur mumbled before Alfred started nudging him to the fence where the coat was draped.

"Quickly, remember what I told you about the phone and remember my instructions and everything will ok, alright?" Arthur felt helpless, just like Ivan told him to continue without him.

"Y-yes…" His eyes stung and his throat felt constricted as he gingerly climbed up one side of the fence and down the other. He clung to the fence, his feet just hanging off the ledge but still able to stand. He turned his eyes to look at Alfred who was still standing there grinning like an idiot. A very brave idiot. "Git…" Arthur mumbled sadly.

The taller blonde stepped closer to the fence, leaning his face against it. "Don't treat this like a good bye, we'll just be apart for a little while." He placed his hands against the wire where Arthur's hands were, in hopes of reassuring him.

"Alfred… Is a git." Arthur smiled; he could feel the wind pulling at his body, as if telling him it was time to go.

"Yeah but I'm a heroic git-" He was cut off by a sudden cold feeling on his lips. His blue eyes widened as after a few seconds his mind realised that Arthur was kissing him. Kissing him! Through the wire! He hadn't even know Arthur knew what a kiss was! Or that he could be so romantic? Before he could react though Arthur pulled back with an incredibly red face that Alfred could only think of as adorable.

The door banged behind them and Alfred could almost see the gun pointing through at them. 'Fuck!' He thought, lifting his hands. "Time to go Arthur!" He slammed them against the wire; shaking it enough that Arthur was forced to let go.

Arthur flailed in mid air before gravity made a grab at him and he began to plummet downwards. His mind quickly switched from shock to instinct and his wings opened, catching the harsh cold wind and using it to lift him up into the air. With a few flaps he was on his way over the city.

Alfred watched in awe as Arthur righted himself and was quickly disappearing into the snowfall. His attention only brought back to reality by shouting and a gunshot.

He ducked on the ground before the instructions of 'hands in the air!' were yelled at him.

"Ok, ok!" He pouted and held his hands up; watching at the two men cautiously approached him. When they were close enough he was grabbed and kicked in the gut roughly.

"Where is he? Where the fuck is he?" The taller of the two yelled. Alfred gasped and tried to breath while the smaller one pulled out a phone and dialled.

"G-gone!" Alfred wheezed. "You'll never find him!"

"Fucking bastard!" He felt the man's boot connect with his collarbone and send him spiralling backwards. He wasn't going to stand for this! Alfred collected himself up and prepared for the next kick.

"Quit it you idiot! No! I wasn't talking to you! Shaun's being a dip shit with the guy- No he's gone, we got the guy he was with!... Yeah we're on the roof of the hospital… Yes sir!" He closed his phone and glared at Alfred. "I don't think you'll live to see tomorrow."

Alfred clenched his teeth and lunged at him, gun be dammed! He was not going to be killed now!

He and the shorter assailant wrestled for less then a minute before a shot rang out. Both stopped and turned to Shaun who was holding the gun, positioning it so that he was aiming for Alfred's head. "One move and you're dead pretty boy!" He threatened.

Alfred realised he had no choice and stayed quiet, wishing and praying that Arthur had managed to find shelter safely.

Ten minuted passed and the assailants were getting edgy and Alfred knew why. He could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance, which meant police were coming. He couldn't help but smirk at their discomfort.

A thrumming noise filled the air, quickly getting louder as it approached the hospital. A black helicopter was making its way through the wind towards the roof where the three men waited. It stopped, hovering above the roof for a minute before the door was opened and a ladder was rolled down.

"Climb." Shaun ordered, prodding the gun to his back. Alfred sneered at him before proceeding to do so. The wind made it very difficult to climb so it took him longer then he would have thought, but when he reached the helicopter he was hauled inside by a large man with slicked back blonde hair and another man with ice-cold blue eyes.

"Welcome," The man with the blue eyes said with malevolent smirk. "I am Francis Bonnefoy."

Alfred didn't have time to think as a bag was placed over his head and knocked unconscious.

* * *

**Hey look at that! An update! :D**

**Also, again, Francis appears! -evil laugh- **

**Not long to go actually till this story ends... Make the most of it people! **

**Enjoy! **


	11. В которых они поймали

Mathew was busy stitching up a girl's pet cat that had been hit by a car when a rather flustered looking nurse rushed in with a phone in her hands.

"Mathew! A man named Kiku is on the phone for you and he said it is extremely urgent!" Mathew didn't think twice before handing the operating tools over to his assistant vet, removing his blood stained gloves and grabbing the phone from her hands. He left the operating room in favour of going outside for more privacy, hearing some shuffling of clothes on the other side before someone spoke.

"Mathew?"

"Kiku? What's wrong? Is everything alright?" He heard some movement on the other side again before Kiku answered again.

"I do not know what's going on exactly, but Alfred just burst in with Arthur-san about five minutes ago and they were being chased by two men!" Mathew swore and kicked the snow angrily. He had stressed to Alfred to be careful! Obviously they had not been careful enough! He heard Kiku on the other side of the line yelling something that sounded like 'didn't anybody called the police! Why aren't they here yet?'

"Are they still there? Is there anything else you can tell me?" He knew he sounded desperate but he needed to know if they were ok.

"No, I'm very sorry Mathew but no one has gone up there and no one has come down yet… I will call you the moment they do though." Kiku said softly, his tone of voice neutral. Mathew grit his teeth and ran a hand through his hair.

"Th-thank you Kiku, that's all I could ask for." He then hung up then, knowing that Kiku would not be offended by the act and started pacing through the snow.

This was not good. This was beyond not good! This was a disaster!

Mathew took a few calming breaths and slowed his pacing. He needed to think. He needed to think of a plan, what to do, who to call- Phone! Mathew momentarily paused in his pacing as the idea struck him. He'd call Alfred! He knew his brother never left the house without his phone. It was his pride and joy as much as his hero movies were!

With renewed hope Mathew started to type in Alfred's number into his phone when he realised some crucial. If he tried to call Alfred and they were in a bad position then the phone might distract him and get them captured! Or worse…

Mathew groaned and placed his phone back into his pocket as his mind whirled through several ideas before he stopped on one. He'd go to the hospital and try to help out the police. He'd seen the men so he could give a description of their appearance and then he could make sure himself that Alfred and Arthur were ok.

He walked back into the vets and gave the short version to the receptionist. She started to call in another vet while Mathew went and changed back into his street clothes.

As he left his prayed that both his brother and Arthur were alright…

Arthur felt the full force of the wind behind him as he flew away from the hospital, away from the strange men and away from Alfred.

He flapped hard, though it seemed he did not need to as the wind picked him up and pushed him faster then he could ever fly by himself. It was not long till he could no longer see the hospital and was now hopelessly lost in the snow filled sky.

* * *

He had been flying a good 15 minutes when a particularly large gust of wind threw off his balance and sent him spiralling down to earth. Arthur screamed and tired to right himself but the wind was pushing him down and he could not break free from it. "Nng!" He groaned as he forced his wings to open to their full extent, hoping to catch another gust that would send him up into the sky again.

A weaker breeze lessened the descent so he wasn't heading directly towards the ground but to a patch of trees instead. Unable to veer away, Arthur covered his head with his arms and tucked his wings in behind his back and braced for impact.

Various branches slowed his descent but not by much and while they were slowing him down, they were also tearing his clothes and leaving many small red cuts all over his skin.

With a small cry the branches disappeared and Arthur fell to the ground, landing in a heap at the bottom of the tree in the snow. Unsure of whether to count himself lucky that the snow had broken his fall or unlucky as he was now dreadfully lost, Arthur lay still in the snow and waited for the feeling to return to his body.

When he was sure he'd be able to move and not fall over, Arthur pushed himself up so that he was cuddled between the roots of the tree, using his wings as a windbreaker to protect him from further freezing. Inside his white cocoon Arthur grit his teeth and told him self, not to cry.

"D-detective Kirkland… W-wouldn't c-cry…" He mumbled, hugging his legs as the cold started to seep in.

As another breeze forced Arthur to huddle closer to the tree he completely forgot all about Alfred's phone which had been thrown from his pocket when he fell from the sky and it now lay silent in the snow.

* * *

'_Ugh…wet… And cold_.' Were Alfred's first thoughts as he slowly regained consciousness. He slowly tried moving his feets, hands, legs and then arms. When he found that he wasn't restrained he slowly sat up and opened his eyes.

Darkness met his gaze and in a brief moment of panic, he believed that he had gone blind. "Wha-!" Alfred gave a short yelp as something touched his shoulder. His hand quickly reached up and grasped it only to find nothing there except for a small wet sensation. Then it began to click.

He had been hit over the head, kidnapped and then left in some sort of dark prison.

His hands felt their way over the floor, letting him know that the area he sat on was covered in cold, hard stone. He explored a bit further, only stopping when his hand touched a wall. With a small grin of victory, Alfred used the wall to help him self stand up. He then slowly walked around his (Very small, he discovered) room.

Alfred rubbed his hands up and down his arms vigorously, glad that he was wearing a few layers of clothes and his lab coat. This place was freezing! As he tried to use friction to heat his limbs up he did his best to deduce what was happening in his mind.

From what he had felt, his prison had three solid rock walls and one wall that were just several bars going vertically from the floor to the roof. _'A typical cell'_ he though bitterly and with no light he couldn't even _tell_ what time it was or if there was anyone other cells around.

Alfred frowned and moved back to the wall that was made of vertical bars and placed his face against them. He had to try this… Just in case.

"…Hello…? … Is there any body out there?"

There was no immediate response which left Alfred feeling disappointed but then a low snarl came from his left. He instinctively jumped back from the bars and tripped on a protruding stone. With a loud yelp he fell backwards onto his backside and groaned.

"Hah! Did you hear that Natalia? I sure did! Another one? Is this someone new? I bet he's stupid oh yes so stupid, right Natalia? I think you're right…"

Alfred blinked in disbelief at the strange sounding female voice that came from down the hall (if there was a hall he wasn't sure).

"Umm hello? M-my name is Alfred… Were you kidnapped too?" He called out, hoping that even though the voice called him stupid that she may be able to help him figure out where he was.

"Listen to that! The nerve! Natalia I don't like this boy. No, neither I, let him rot Natalia, I agree completely Natalia." Alfred frowned and gripped onto the calls bars.

"Hey! I was only asking a question! No need to get angry with me! "

"Don't bother trying, she's crazy… And I don't blame her…" Another voice, this time from his right, started to speak.

"What? Who are you? What is this place?" Alfred was starting to get sick of this. Why couldn't anyone just answer his questions?

The girl snorted and a loud smashing noise was heard not too far from his cell. "This place…" She started, followed by another crash.

"Is where…" Crunch.

"Soldiers…" Crash.

"Are made…" Smash. "Nnhg! B-bleeding again…"

Alfred pressed his face against the bars again and tried in vain to find the second female speaker. "Hey you ok?" He asked, even knowing it was a stupid question.

"It'll heal," She replied nonchalantly. "But I'm curious… The Doctor never brings in people as old as you… You must know something then." Yet another crashing noise sounded.

"I… Then… This is where Arthur was made… Wasn't it?"

There was a pregnant pause before the saner of the two females spoke again.

"H-he did get out? It is possible?" Her voice went from uncaring to desperate and Alfred heard the groaning of metal on rock as if she was trying to push open the cell door. "Please! I must know! I must!" Her voice cracked and suddenly the dark prison was filled with loud sobs.

"I want to get out of here! I don't want it any more! I don't want any more needles!" She cried, wailing and groaning as the crashing noises started up again. "It hurts!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Alfred said softly though inside he was starting to feel panic. "I don't know how to get out of here."

"I don't! I don't! I don't!" His voice was drowned out by her cries of distress, which were soon added to by the first female.

"Brother! Brother where are you! Natalia misses you! We miss you brother!"

Alfred sighed and stepped back from the bars, choosing to sit in the corner of his cell and cover his ears, blocking out the sounds of the pitiful women cries.

They eventually softened to sobs and whispers and then finally to silence. Alfred hadn't known how long he had been sitting with his hands clasped over his ears… In fact he hadn't realised it but when light suddenly filled his vision he concluded that somehow he had fallen asleep. The darkness and silence had somehow lulled him to sleep. He looked up as heavy footsteps trudged down the hall and then stopped outside his cell.

"Get up." The man with the slicked back blonde hair ordered. Alfred sent him a withering glance before doing as he was told. There was not much he could do at this point.

He was roughly grabbed and pulled out of his cell by one of the other men and then pushed in front of them. "Walk. And no funny business." Alfred did as he was told, keeping his eyes straight until he heard a whimper from his left.

A fairly muscular female stood at the back of her cell, her long chestnut hair messy and covered in blood. She wore a simple shapeless (what was once white) dress and a few bandages covered her arms and legs. Her hands were tucked behind her back; hiding whatever damage she must have done to them last night. Her green eyes regarded him slowly but apart from that she didn't move. Alfred gasped involuntarily when he realised that this was the girl he had been talking to last night.

"Keep moving!" A hand shoved him roughly in the back causing him to almost fall over.

"Alright already I get it!" He hissed and went back to looking straightforward again. Alfred swallowed uncomfortably as his mind went back to the woman in the cell. He had no idea how these people could let her live that way… Specially with all that blood on her walls…

Alfred was lead up and out of the cell level to a more lit corridor that had many closed doors. "Where are we going?" He ventured, taking a small look around as he walked.

"… To see Mr. Bonnefoy." The blonde man answered stiffly. Alfred felt his face unconsciously contort into a grimace at the mention of the man who kidnapped him earlier that day. Or he assumed it was still that day.

"… Is it still the same day?" He tried another question. This time the blonde man didn't answer; instead he kept his cool blue eyes facing straight forward. Alfred huffed and continued to talk, even going so far as to slow down a bit just to annoy his captors.

Eventually they reached a large entrance closed with two double doors. They looked very impressive with small swirly designs carved into the corners. One of the men opened the door and shoved Alfred inside.

"This is his office, you-" The blonde man's radio went off on his belt. He quickly picked it up and hissed into the speaker. "What is it?" A muffled but urgent sounding reply crackled through the speaker causing a small look of panic to pass through the blonde's eyes. "Fuck. I thought we used a strong enough sedative… Ok, I'll be there promptly." He put his radio back around his waist and turned to Alfred.

"Go sit in the chair in front of the desk. Don't touch anything and Mr. Bonnefoy will be there in a moment." He ordered in such a way that Alfred almost did as he was told. The door was then shut and a tell tale click let him know that he had been locked in and the fading footsteps let him know that he was now alone.

Alfred was not about to kick up a fuss at the door; especially seeing as he had just been left in the head mans office with no one there. He smirked as he made his way across the floor to the desk and glanced at the contents covering it.

There were several beige coloured files covering the top of the desk, each with a number and a photo of a worn out looking individual. Picking a random file with a young looking Asian man on it with a black line through the picture, Alfred opened it up and took a look inside.

The information was very basic. The man's name was Im Yong Soo; he was 17 months old when they began to inject him with various chemicals. He was taken from an orphanage during world war III; no one even knew he was missing. He has one brother; subject 1, who is still living. However, he had no other living family or relatives thanks to the war though his background was well bred.

As he read on, the information became more interesting. It began to describe changes in personality and behaviour. In the comments below the typed information someone had scribbled _'this is a failed subject, he may be able to follow orders but he's hot headed and unable to heal properly_.'

Alfred frowned. '_Unable to heal properly_?' Then it dawned on him.

'_Arthur's unusual healing ability'_. All the experiments must be injected with some kind of medicine that allows them to heal faster then nature intended meaning that this Im Yong Soo guy couldn't heal like the others.

He continued to read, pausing when he reached the last parts of the report.

'_Subject 2, Im Yong Soo, died from blood loss during a simulation battle with subject 3 on the 5__th__ of October 2056._

_He did not possess any physical or mental traits that we required. His death was not consequential.'_

Alfred quickly grabbed another file, this time there was a pretty young girl with platinum blonde hair on the cover.

"Name, Natalia- That girl!" His mind raced back to the girl who had been screaming for her brother, talking as though there were two of her. He skipped to the comments at the bottom of the page. "She does not follow orders, she is too aggressive when not in battle situations and she appears to have gradually developed a spilt personality of her self…"

Alfred placed the file down and looked through the other ones, ranging from a beefy looking man from Australia (who was deceased) to a feminine looking male who was apparently Im Yong Soo's older brother. In his anger, Alfred accidently knocked over a stack of papers onto the floor. Cursing he quickly bent down to pick them up when a file in the middle of them caught his eye.

"Subject 7…" He read out loud, noting the fact that there was no picture. Alfred couldn't stop the gasp escape his mouth when he opened and read the name at the top.

"So you decided to rifle through my private papers then did you?" A silky voice caught his attention, causing him to jump back with Arthur's file in his hands.

"You sick fuck." He growled through his teeth, taking in the man standing before him. "How can you treat people this way? How do you sleep with your self at night knowing the pain and suffering you've caused these people?" Francis smirked confidently, closing the door behind him and slowly making his way over to his desk.

"Easily. I think of the money, the status as a doctor/experimenter I will receive and the small angel man that I shall soon have returned to me."

Alfred refrained the urge to lunge at the man, even when he appeared to be unarmed. He moved around the desk, making sure to keep it between Francis and his self. Francis sat down when he reached his chair and indicated for Alfred to do the same.

"Please, I thought we might be able to speak to each other nicely, doctor to doctor." Francis rested his chin on his hands, giving Alfred his best smile.

"You are no doctor." Alfred hissed. "Doctors don't harm people like this!"

"I am doing this for the good of the country, Mr Jones, I am employed by the United States government to create these men and women of war to keep the peace in other countries… Or would you rather world war four break out?"

Alfred grit his teeth in frustration. Of course he didn't want world war 4 to break out! No one wanted war… But for this to be the only way to keep the peace… It just didn't seem right to him.

"Then what about Arthur? He's not a 'man of war' why create him?" He held Arthur's file up and waved it around at Francis. The man just smirked, going so far as to lean back in his chair as though answering how old he was.

"Arthur is my own, personal project." He began. "And when he is returned I shall make him mine and only mine. I shall make him forget all about you and your brother, speaking of which, they should have captured both of them by now."

Alfred paled and lowered his hand at the news. "Th-they got Mattie?"

"Of course! You both know about Arthur, about us… We could hardly let you continue living now could we?" He replied cheerfully.

"You bastard!" Alfred jumped up out of his chair and prepared to make a move towards Francis when a crash and a loud voice boomed behind him.

"Freeze or we shoot!" Several clicks were heard as the guns safety catches were turned off. Alfred paused in mid step, too nervous to even turn around to look at the guns.

"Just in time Ludwig, as always." Francis praised smugly, slowly standing from his chair and walking around to Alfred, snatching Arthur's file from his hands. "Take this man back to the cell and have his brother join him… Bring subject 7 to my personal chambers when he arrives."

"Yes sir." Came the taut reply before Alfred felt two pairs of hands roughly grab him and start to haul from the office.

"You're a monster Francis Bonnefoy! An inhuman monster!" Alfred struggled against the hands as they pulled him from the office and down the hall again.

* * *

Mathew was panting for breath by the time he reached the hospital. Gasping, he entered the building and was suddenly swept up in a sea of police, patients and nurses. By luck he spotted Kiku by the main desk speaking on a phone with a worried expression.

"Kiku!" Mathew called above the yells of the crowd, pushing past a stern looking nurse who was trying to move a policeman out of the way. "Kiku!"

The small Japanese man looked up at the sound of his name, giving Mathew a small wave before placing the phone down to give Mathew his full attention. "Mathew, it's terrible! The police went up there but the Alfred, Arthur-san and the two men had vanished!"

"What!" Mathew very nearly shrieked at the poor man. "What do you mean they disappeared? How is that possible they have to have gotten down somehow! Where is the policeman in charge?" Kiku meekly pointed out the short yet robust man to Mathew and then proceeded to follow him as the blonde stormed his way over.

"Excuse me!" Mathew growled, catching the policeman's attention immediately.

"Sir, we are in the middle of an investigation so can you please-"

"I'm Alfred's brother and Arthur's friend, I demand to know what's going on!" The policeman looked very put out by Mathew's sudden outburst, his expression wavering between surprised and confused before the normal straight face the police usually use returned.

"We… Haven't found out much yet, however, witnesses say they saw a helicopter leave the top of the hospital while others say they saw a large white bird… But we haven't managed to locate the whereabouts of your brother and friend and we haven't yet made an leads as to whom attacked them, I'm afraid that's all I can tell you for now." Mathew rubbed his temples tenderly as he felt a headache coming on.

"Thank you officer, I'll let you get on with your work now." The officer tipped his hat and went back to talking to another nurse. Kiku placed a hand on Mathew's back in a comforting manor.

"You heard him didn't you? Perhaps Arthur-san wasn't captured, I would say that the white bird people were talking about was him." The small man said. Mathew blinked and almost slapped himself for not realising it when the policeman had said it.

"You're right! I bet he's probably flown away to find help! Or maybe he's attempting to get back home… Either way I think Alfred told him to do it… Foolish man." Mathew closed his eyes and sighed in thought of his brother. "There's a good chance that if I went back to the apartment, Arthur will be there… Thank you for all your help Kiku-"

"I'll come with you Mathew," Kiku said suddenly. Mathew blinked in surprise.

"You don't have to eh,"

"But Alfred… And Arthur-san, are my friends and I want to help." Kiku stood stubbornly by his point. There was no way he wasn't going to help find Alfred. Mathew knew Kiku's heart was in the right place and agreed to bring him too.

"Ok, lets go then." He said, striding quickly out of the building with Kiku behind him.

"… I have this feeling…" Mathew began.

"Hm?" Kiku tilted his head towards Mathew.

"I have to call Alfred's phone. I don't know why but I feel like I should give it a try." Kiku nodded, eager to find out if Mathew's feeling paid off. Mathew typed in the numbers and pressed the dial button, waiting for a moment before the ringing started.

Ring, ring…

Ring, ring…

Ring, ring…

"Come on, damn it!" He hissed.

Ring, ring…

Ring –click-

"H-hello?" Mathew instantly recognised Arthur's timid voice on the other side of the line.

"Arthur! Thank god! Are you ok? Is Alfred there with you? Are you hurt?" He knew he was asking the questions too fast for the angel but he needed to know.

"M-Mathew… Umm… Hurt, yes… A-Alfred… Alfred… W-was took by the Doctor…"

Mathew grit this teeth, even going so far as to grind them in anger. "Where are you? Do you know?" If he could get a location, maybe they could find Arthur.

"D-don't know."

Mathew bit down a groan of frustration. Of course Arthur wouldn't know where he was he hardly knew what good food was let alone a location! "What do you see around you? Are there any landmarks? Something that stands out?" There was some rustling on the other line as Mathew assumed Arthur was standing up to look around.

"Umm… L-lot of t-tree's, lot of s-snow… Uhh." There was a pause where the sound of Arthur walking through snow was heard. "A-and a red w-wall…" Mathew felt the location click in his mind.

"I think I know where you are, stay there, stay hidden, Kiku and I are going to come and get you ok?"

"O-ok," Arthur sneezed and the connection went dead. Mathew turned to Kiku and gave him a weak smile.

"From what he said it sounds like he's at the park just down the road from our apartment… There's a large red brick wall that surrounds one of those old buildings…" Kiku nodded, remembering the park.

"Yes let's go then."

The two hurried off through the cold wind, feeling slightly closer to finding Alfred then before.

* * *

Arthur looked at the now blank phone. Mathew's voice no longer was coming out of it but he couldn't understand how it happened.

He had been peacefully asleep, cuddled between the tree's roots when a loud and unusual noise started up. He had opened his wings and looked to see some sort of light coming form the ground not too far from where he was sitting.

With his usual caution he approached the light to see Alfred's phone lying half hidden in the snow. He couldn't read what the phone said but if it was Mathew then he could help him.

Following Alfred's instructions, Arthur pressed the green phone shaped button.

"H-hello?" He hadn't known whom to expect but he hoped with all his heart that it was Mathew.

Then the barrage of questions started and Arthur felt his answers weren't giving Mathew any gratification as he heard the exasperation in his voice. Even when Mathew had asked for a location Arthur hadn't been much help, the only thing he seemed to have said that pleased Mathew was the red wall.

He hadn't noticed it earlier as he had felt dizzy from the fall but when he wandered through the trees a little more he saw the large red wall hidden by foliage. It was then that a breeze decided to tickle his nose and he sneezed, accidentally pressing the red phone button as he tried not to drop the mobile.

An unnatural silence caused but no longer hearing Mathew's voice put Arthur off. He once again settled between the roots of a nearby tree and used his wings to shield him self from the wind. "Mathew's coming…" He told him self. "Will be here s-soon."

Arthur blinked as the sound of feet walking through the snow reached his ears. It sounded like more then one person and they were moving quickly. Arthur's first instinct was too hide in a nearby bush for safety. He didn't know if it WAS Mathew and Kiku who were walking towards him right now. For all he knew it could be the Doctor or one of his guards.

He was just about to make his way to the bush when his name was called. "Arthur? It's me, Mathew." The familiar voice had never sounded so sweet to his ears. Arthur stood up shakily and stepped out from behind the tree.

"M-Mathew?" The blonde man turned and smiled, running up and engulfing Arthur in a tight hug.

"Oh Arthur thank god!" Mathew squeezed him tighter. "When Kiku told me what happened I was so worried! You're ok though and that's good." Arthur squirmed a little as the hug tightened again briefly before he was let go. Kiku took this time to make his presence known.

"It is good to see you alive Arthur-san." The quiet man said though Arthur felt as though the words were filled with sadness.

"Th-thank you." Arthur could only say back. Mathew didn't allow him much time as the moment he said thank you he felt hands roaming over his shoulders, ribs and back. Mathew was checking for damage and Arthur knew he this so he tried his best not to flinch at the sudden contact.

"You seem to be ok, just some cuts and bruising… I'm guessing you flew here?" Arthur nodded and flexed his wing a little. Mathew pulled the wing out gently and had a look at it, nodding and murmuring under his breath, something about how amazing it was that the thing was healed before putting it back. "Ok, I don't think we should stay at home any more."

Kiku nodded his head in agreement. "You may come back to my house so we can find out a way to get Alfred back."

"Alright then… I just need to get Alfred's gun from our apartment, he believed we should keep one just in case and this seems like a good time to have it on us… then we'll head to your house. Here Arthur, use my coat to cover your wings." Arthur gratefully took the warm jacket and placed it over his wings and shoulders.

They left the park but stuck to side roads, trying their best to avoid open spaces just in case they ran into any more men working for 'The Doctor'. Just like Mathew said, it didn't take long to get to their apartment building. The blonde man led them around the side of the building and gently pushed Kiku and Arthur behind the large wheelie bin.

"I'm going to go through the back door and use the emergency stair case… If someone comes that you suspect is working for the… Doctor, run and hide, don't wait for me." He stated while pulling out a key. Arthur nodded.

"Ok Mathew, good luck." Kiku smiled softly. Mathew smiled weakly back and took a deep breath before opening the back door and slipping inside.

With as much skill as he possessed, Mathew crept up the stairs, thankful that his old house used to have squeaky stairs and he had mastered climbing those without making a sound. He had never realised back then that the skill of sneaking up stairs would come in handy.

When he reached the door that lead to the corridor with their apartment he paused and pressed his ear against the wood. Mathew listened intently for any sounds of life behind the door, a footstep, a cough, a sneeze or even a sigh but the hall way seemed empty.

With slow, quiet movements, Mathew placed the key in the door and turned, sucking in a quick breath when the lock clicked. He waited for men to come pull open the door and point guns at him but everything remained quiet. He let out a small sigh of relief and turned the doorknob. "So far so good…" He muttered.

Mathew slowly stepped out into the corridor, suddenly feeling very conscious of every shadow that splayed itself across the walls. With quick steps he made his way over to their apartment door and repeated the actions on that door as he had with the first door. Again, there didn't appear to be anyone inside.

"Ok, just in, grab the gun and out again." He Murmured as he placed the key in the lock and turned it. Just as the door swung open the someone coughed from inside.

"For the love of maple…"

* * *

Kiku sat in a very awkward silence beside Arthur whose face was set hard in concentration as he stared up towards the top of the building. Kiku wasn't sure how to start a conversation with the illiterate angel let alone he didn't know if he even wanted to. This was, after all, the man who had stolen Alfred's attention from him.

"Does K-Kiku… Likes Alfred?" The Japanese man blinked and looked at Arthur who was now staring at him intently.

"Uh y-yes, I like Alfred." Arthur turned from him and went back to watching the building.

"Huh…" He mumbled softly. Kiku frowned but didn't say any more, unable to fathom where that question came from nor why he had been asked it. The pair lapsed back into an awkward silence.

After ten minutes Kiku was starting to worry. He knew it might have taken some time to find the gun that Mathew was after but not this long. He was about to suggest to Arthur that they leave when he heard rustling of the leaves behind him.

It was too late to move as two men holding guns smirked at them from the bushes. "Don't do anything stupid. We have your friend upstairs." He grinned. Kiku grimaced and refrained from moving while Arthur's face had paled. The two men stepped out of the bushes, their guns still trained on their captives. Another man came around from the side of the building talking into a phone.

"Yeah looks like Steven and Josh got 'em… Yeah ok I'll make sure." The man approached Arthur and grabbed his back roughly. Arthur yelped and twisted around in the man's grip.

"Wanker!" He screeched, whipping his arm around and catching the man's face with his nails in a desperate bid to free himself. The man shrieked in pain, stumbling back, clutching a hand to his cheek.

"Son of a bitch! Yeah the little monster clawed my face! … Ugh fine! Yeah he has the wings on his back… Fuck that hurt… " The man glared daggers at Arthur who had shrunk back to where Kiku was standing.

"You should probably disinfect that scratch Cain, who knows what kind of germs these things carry." The shorter one with red hair commented.

Cain snarled at Arthur and pulled out a small bottle from his pocket. He poured some of its contents into his hand and wiped it onto hi cheek, hissing as he did. "Fuck Josh this stuff stings like hell!"

"Well wouldn't you rather the stinging pain to being turned into a freak?" The last man who Kiku presumed was Steven said.

The back door was forced open and all eyes swivelled to look at the people walking out. Kiku gasped as a furious looking Mathew was pushed out, his hands being held by none other then Gilbert. The albino's face had guilt written all over it as he tried his best to restrain his boy friend.

"Gilbert you ass hole! I can't believe you!" Mathew swore. He looked over to where Kiku and Arthur were being detained and hung his head sadly. This definitely wasn't going as planned.

Arthur whined behind Kiku, going so far as to cling to his back, one hand on his right shoulder, clutching tightly. These actions didn't go unnoticed by Gilbert or Mathew, the latter realising why Arthur hid behind Kiku the moment he saw Gilbert staring at him.

Gilbert tightened his grip on Mathew and turned to the others. "Grab those two and bring them to the van… We need to get out of here." Kiku and Arthur were rudely grabbed by the three men and pushed along with Mathew into a large white van. Kiku and Arthur's hands were handcuffed and then they were buckled in. Opposite them sat Gilbert and two other men who Kiku couldn't identify.

Mathew glared at Gilbert with as much hatred as he could muster as the van started up. Arthur continued to bury his head into Kiku's shoulder, confusing Kiku and giving Mathew more fuel for his hatred.

"You're the one who shot him, aren't you Gilbert." Mathew growled through clenched teeth. The albino glanced at him, unable to hide the guilt in his eyes despite his stern expression.

"Yeah, I was under orders to." He answered after a minute or two. Mathew couldn't hold back a look of disgust. Kiku slowly raised his hands and gave what he hopped would be a reassuring pat to Arthur.

"I hope you know we're over."

"… Yeah."

The van came to a stop very soon after starting which was more then surprising to both Mathew and Kiku. They glanced side along at each other, realising that the place that they were being taken was close… Very close. The van turned a few times before coming to a complete stop and mere seconds later the door was slid open though instead of more men with guns, people dressed in lab coats greeted them.

Arthur had always seemed timid from the moment Kiku had met him but the moment the people wearing the lab coats appeared he went ballistic. Kiku felt him self pushed into Mathew as Arthur panicked, flailing his wings, legs and even his handcuffed hands. His green eyes were wide and wild as he kicked one of the lab coat wearing men in the chest. "Arthur!" Mathew pushed one of the men out of the way and tried to grab him, managing to only get a hold of his vest.

The scuffle continued till a gun shot rang through the air and everyone froze, even Arthur, whose chest was heaving up and down. Mathew could feel Gilbert's arms around his waist trying to pull him back.

"What is going on here!" A deep voice rang out. Every head slowly turned to look at the new comer.

"Fuck… Brother." Gilbert cursed in Mathew's ear. A large figure came towards the door of the truck, pushing people out of the way until he reached Arthur. Kiku blinked through the mass of people as he instantly recognised the man that Feliciano had been describing to him for as long as he could remember.

Ludwig. He stood proudly out from everyone else in his snug fitting uniform that seemed to just hold his muscles in while a large bruise on his throat and a plaster on his left cheek just seemed to add to his manliness. The sturdy blonde man glared down at Arthur before roughly grabbing him out of everyone's arm's including Mathew's. "Brother." He turned his stern blue eyes to Gilbert. "Make sure these two are placed on level minus three with the other one and then… Clean yourself up, Mr. Bonnefoy will want to talk to you." Mathew felt Gilbert's arms retract from around his middle.

"Yeah ok." Gilbert replied, sounding more strained then Mathew had ever heard him before. Then Ludwig proceeded to take Arthur, kicking and screaming, away. Mathew could only watch as he was restrained and sighed sadly.

* * *

No, no, no, no, no, no, no this was not happening! He was not back in the facility, he couldn't be! Arthur's heart was racing a million miles per hour as he was partly dragged partly pushed down halls. The familiar and unwanted smell of anaesthetic strong in his nose, the cold atmosphere and the unfeeling gaze of those who worked there; all of it!

He could only struggle harder the further they went in. This was a nightmare! "No, p-please! Not here! Not here!" Arthur was beyond hysterical now. He even went so far as to twist out of their grip and once he hit the floor he grabbed the closest object, which just happen to be a table leg. Hands were on his body instantly, pulling and tugging at his limbs, trying their best to pull him off.

"Can't we just give him a sedative?" One of the women asked with a exasperate sigh.

"No, Mr. Bonnefoy has asked that he have all his wits about him. No drugs." Ludwig grumbled as he stepped forward and placed his large boot on Arthur's wing. "Now Experiment seven you're going to let go of that table leg if you know what's good for you…" He warned. Arthur shut his eyes tight, willing this to just be a bad dream and in a second he would wake up in the comfortable white bed with Alfred and everything would be safe again.

"N-no, no Doctor, no pain, no more!" He whimpered, feeling slight pressure on his wing.

"You have to let go now." Ludwig replied impatiently. "And we wouldn't want to keep Mr. Bonnefoy waiting would we?" A sudden pain burst through his wing as Ludwig pressed down on it hard with his boot. Arthur cried out loud and let go of the table leg in favour of trying to remove the boot. The moment he let go however, the rest of the group grabbed him and hauled him to his feet and continued on their way.

It wasn't much longer (Though with the amount of resistance Arthur put up it seemed a lot longer) till they reached a large pair of double doors. Arthur could tell what was beyond the doors even without having ever been near them and whimpered.

Ludwig moved forward and pulled a key from his pocket and opened the doors. He then grabbed Arthur and unceremoniously shoved him into the room, closed the doors and locked them again.

Arthur stumbled back into the room, just barely managing to keep his balance. Frightened for his life he immediately made a beeline for a wall, any wall, but he just needed something at his back for protection. He turned only once he felt the wall and saw the room for the first time.

It was larger then Alfred's with a much larger colour variety too. With cream coloured walls covered in pictures of fancy looking buildings and scenery. There was a desk in one corner covered in papers; there was a couch in another corner that was an odd green colour. Though in the middle on the other wall was the biggest bed Arthur had ever laid eyes on. On each corner there was a pole and what looked like silk was hanging from the top and gently touching each side of the bed and one either side of the bed was two small cabinets with lamps on them. It looked like something out of a dream and ever so soft… But Arthur wouldn't be fooled. This room belonged to the Doctor and he was nothing but evil!

Instinct told him to find a hiding place and a weapon. Is he could somehow find those two things he should have all he needed to get out of there alive but he still wasn't willing enough to leave the wall so he made his way around the outside of the room till he reached the desk.

The desk didn't have much in the way of weapons, only a few pens and sheets of papers but apart from that Arthur couldn't see much that he could use. Even using the desk, as a hiding place didn't seem like a good idea. Arthur continued his journey around the wall till he reached the bed.

Like the desk, the bed didn't seem to hold any weapons of any sorts that Arthur could use though it looked like if he squeezed himself underneath it might prove it self to be a good hiding place. Just as he was about to test his theory when the tell tale click of a key sliding into a lock caught his attention. The door clicked and began to open…

* * *

Gilbert's team, through a series of hallways and stairwells, led Mathew and Kiku; going deeper and deeper, the temperature dropping with each door they passed. They were forced down a steep stairway into a dark, stone corridor, which smelt like mould. This led to another corridor that was lined up with barred cells. They could only guess what was going to happen now.

Mathew glanced at the cells as they passed; taking in that virtually all of them were empty except one they passed that contained a girl with long white like hair and sickly pale skin. They were stopped not soon after they passed her cell at another cell, which contained a very familiar occupant.

"Alfred!" Said man was lying on his side, facing the back wall but it was no mistake that it was the one they had been looking for!

Before they were let in, two men forced them to stand against the wall and they were then patted down for any objects they might have had one them. Both their phones were confiscated and some pens Kiku had on him from work.

Gilbert then opened the cell door and indicated for them to get inside. Mathew glared at Gilbert once more as they stepped in, their hands still hand cuffed and went to check on Alfred.

"He looks ok, just knocked out…" Kiku mumbled as he examined Alfred, wincing when he saw a nasty forming bruise on his cheek.

"Good, good, so long as he's ok." Mathew sighed in relief and leaned against the back wall.

"I'm sorry you got caught up in this Mattie…" Both men looked back to see Gilbert still standing at their cell door looking remorseful.

"Yeah, well I'm sorry I believed you were a decent person." Mathew retorted, feeling a small victory when Gilbert winced.

"I… I guess I deserved that." He smiled wistfully and stepped away from the cell door. "Bye Mathew." Gilbert smiled sadly and slowly walked away.

Mathew grimaced hearing that from Gilbert. It didn't matter that he had found out what kind of low life work Gilbert did… It didn't change the fact that inside he still loved him dearly… Kiku settled himself beside Mathew.

"Now we need to think of a way out of here." He whispered. Mathew nodded.

"Ok." And the lights went out.

* * *

Feliciano hummed with happily as he sorted through some of his documents for Ludwig. The taller blonde had come in just earlier with a nasty, bleeding scratch on his face and a bruise on his throat. Apparently, one of the experiments had gotten lose again and he'd been called into help sedate it but it was a large dog and it managed to jump up and scratch him in the face.

The Italian had fixed him up no worry, making sure the wound was cleaned of any bacteria and then firmly placing a plaster on it was good measure. There wasn't much he could do about the bruise so he wished his most fantasised about man good luck and sent him on his way. Though the shock he got when Ludwig turned around and said "Hey, I wouldn't mind trying your pasta sometime," had almost been too much for the love struck man to bear!

"I love today!" He giggled when he realised the first person he should have told. "I must tell Kiku! He'll be so happy!" Feliciano pushed his roller chair with his feet over to one of the far draws and pulled out his phone. He grinned as he could hear the ring tone going before it suddenly shut off. Frowning, he tried again, only to get the same response.

"Vee~ How strange… Kiku never ignore a call from me and his phone would be turned off if he was performing surgery…" With no explanation, Feliciano shrugged it off as Kiku was busy with someone and didn't want to answer his phone. He slipped his phone into his pocket and went to collect the papers he had just finished with.

He strolled down the hall with them and placed them in Ludwig's pigeonhole when he noticed a box sitting on the counter by the slots. There were two men inside one of the private offices talking and no one was around so Feliciano took a quick peek as to what it was. Every cell in his body froze when he recognised one of the phones that lay within. He could never mistake Kiku's state of the art phone for anyone's and it even have the small panda phone strap on it! But why would he phone be here? The men's voices suddenly got louder, causing Feliciano to jump and step away from the box.

"-And then Ludwig solved everything? Man that guy-" They paused when they noticed Feliciano standing near the box.

In an almost panic, Feliciano said the first thing that came to mind. "Vee~ Do you like pasta~?"

The two men stared baffled for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Oh man! Come on, we got to get this stuff to the back." One man said and grabbed the box containing Kiku's phone. "Who is that guy? I've never seen him before…" Their voices drifted off down the hall and gave Feliciano all he needed to be suspicious.

Kiku was in the building that he knew but why? Why would he come to an animal research lab? Feliciano frowned as the questions piled up in his mind till he thought of a solution.

There was a room with hundreds of televisions. They had cameras all over the building specifically as they had very important government documents and they needed to know if anyone was trying to steal them. If he could sneak into the room then he would be able to see where Kiku was and sort this out.

Feliciano walked confidently through the building till he reached the room, which he knew, contained the televisions. He was surprised when it wasn't locked or when there wasn't anyone present inside but didn't argue his luck. He quickly scanned the screens, searching for his raven-haired friend. After a minute of staring at different screens Feliciano decided that he wasn't in any of the rooms they had cameras in.

He sighed and was about to give up when he heard footsteps and voices coming towards the door. "Oh no!" Feliciano look around the room swiftly. If he got caught in here then he would be in so much trouble! Without another thought he moved to the back of the room and placed his hands flat against the wall. He could have kissed someone when he felt a doorknob under his fingertips.

Feliciano quickly turned the doorknob and hurried inside, pressing the door closed quietly and holding his breath as the voices on the other side got louder... Then softer. The brunette silently thanked the door for being there and turned to see the room he had chose to hide in.

For his third shock of the day, Feliciano was doing quite well. Another set of screens was set up but these were all computers and on them were dark outlines of what looked like people in small confined spaces. Feliciano peered closer at a screen that showed what looked like three people in one small space and he was greeted with yet another surprise.

He recognised the three people… Kiku, Alfred and Mathew were all sitting in a small cell like space and they were being monitored. "They're prisoners." The Italian reasoned his eyes drawn to another screen with a person strapped to a table on it.

The man was rather large and he looked wounded. Even with the lighting as it was, Feliciano could recognise blood. He then looked at another screen at a woman scraping her nails against a wall and in another, they were strapped to a chair with so many tubes coming out of them Feliciano couldn't tell if they were alive or being drained of the blood!

He stumbled back unable to take the truth bearing down on him. This wasn't an animal testing facility… This was a human testing facility! And they had his friends! And that must mean Ludwig is in on it too… This truth seemed the hardest for Feliciano to realise as he took a deep breath to calm himself. He would deal with that later. Right now his main objective was to rescue Kiku and his friends!

* * *

I'm sorry it took forever to put this up. I hope everyone likes it because it's the longest chapter I've written o.o

POINTS TO KNOW FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER

-There will be Francis/Arthur interaction for that person who asked.

-Ivan will be back a lot more. (unlike in the last two chapters)

-Next chapter will most likely be the last chapter.

For those following my other stories too, Jolly Rogers next chapter is being worked on .;; but it's not likely I'll be getting it up any time soon and Kirkland's Circus of Fear is still being worked on.


	12. Мой подсолнух

AJQESFDSADSF DDDD: Oh mai, been a while…. BUT HERE'S THE SECOND LAST CHAPTER thank you to everyone who still reads this story, I very much appreciate it!

[Quick special thanks to imp'ka about the Russian C:]

* * *

It was like every nightmare all rolled into one and it was coming true.

Arthur could feel every anxiety, every memory of pain, every single touch that burned like fire come back to him as the man who essentially created him and ruined him stepped into the room nonchalantly, as though none of this was real.

'N-none of this IS real.' Arthur prayed, his body betraying him as it froze out of fear, unable to flee, unable to save himself from the threat closing in on him. 'None of this is real! Wake up!' His hands clenched into fists at his sides, he backed up until he hit the bedside table, knocking over the lamp on top.

"Arthur."

"Don't" His hissed out loud before he could stop him self. 'Don't say my name! Never, ever again!'

The Doctor paused, stopping barely a metre away from Arthur. He daren't not look up into the cruel mans eyes, instead choosing to stare intensely into the carpet, willing the ground to open up and swallow him, for demons to pull him down into a never ending darkness, for his mind to suddenly detach itself and leave him, anything to make this moment bearable.

"Arthur, do you know what I said the first moment I saw you?" Of course he didn't know, he barely remembered what his childhood was like except for few memories of being beaten, having needle after needle shoved into his arms and one memory of eating a worm that made its way into his cell and decided he didn't like it all that much. Arthur knew there had been far worse things but his mind had worked hard to make those memories disappear, for surely he would have gone mad if he hadn't.

"No." He muttered finally, hugging himself as he started to feel cold, yet the door was closed and strangely enough, there were no windows. He heard the sound of shoes on carpet moving closer, till a shadow covered him yet he still refused to look up.

"I said 'vous êtes parfait, tu es à moi…" Arthur's entire body tensed at the words. They pulled and pulled at a fuzzy and distant memory in his mind, extracting it from his subconscious where he had hoped to keep it buried.

The Doctor… Had said those words… He said them the day after Arthur had flown for the first time. He remembered a young boy looking at him through the bars of his cell, and muttering things in another language… Arthur hadn't been able to understand English at that point either, but what the Doctor had just said… Wasn't English? What was it?

Too deep in thought Arthur had failed to notice the Doctor's sudden close proximity. His warm breath tickled his forehead, just as Arthur's body decided to move. Arthur pushed the Doctor away with all his might, panic taking over his mind and sending him back to when he was younger, and had to rely on his gut for direction.

Without looking back, Arthur made a dash for the door, grasping the doorknob with both his hands and pulling. Locked! He banged on the door with his fists, hoping that maybe someone would take pity on him and open the door… Or maybe he was hoping Alfred would hear it and save him. Alfred… He was somewhere inside the building, probably in the same situation that Arthur had been in for all of his life. Locked in a dark cage, and tormented by the demons in white coats.

The Doctor chuckled somewhere behind him, reminding Arthur that he wasn't alone and out of danger just yet. The blonde man stood slowly, turning to pick up the lamp that Arthur had knocked over and place it carefully back on the bedside table.

"You never change Arthur," He said, making Arthur wince. "Always scraping away at doors, waiting for someone to find you… Well, I can assure you… That won't happen again." The Doctor's face broke into a smirk; his eyes twinkled like a demon offering him a sweet.

"By the time I'm done with you…" His voice dropped to a low, husky whisper. "You'll be begging for me."

* * *

Feliciano was unbelievably lucky that day, as he snuck out of the second screen room into the first, and then back out into the corridor without being caught. He heard voices heading towards his direction, but as he was just walking through the corridor now, they wouldn't be able to pin him as having just been in the forbidden room.

His first objective was to find a way to where ever they were holding Kiku and the others. He didn't know of any such rooms on ground level or on the above floors. He had though, noticed in the corner of the screens a number that indicated temperature. They were low numbers, which meant wherever they were being kept, it was freezing. 'There must be lower levels.' Feliciano thought as he passed two more people and turned left down the next hall.

He tried to remember where he had seen a dodgy looking door, or one with a sign that said 'keep out', anything to indicate where the forbidden zone was. Then he remembered.

The Lab! It was so obvious! He was never allowed through that door and had been told that only scientists could enter it. He turned back and began to walk down the other way as he now had a location.

It was only after walking through a few more hallways and through one security check, that Feliciano reached his destination. The large white door looked heavy and hard to move… But not only did it look heavy; it also required an authorised card to be slotted into it and a password.

Feliciano felt like groaning when he realised that his little rescues mission was now coming to an abrupt end, because he wasn't authorised to go downstairs! In his frustration he pounded his fists weakly against the door, not that it was going to do any good, but he felt slightly better at causing the door some harm. He was so preoccupied in attacking the door that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him come to a halt before a voice called out.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

He paused in his fiddling and slowly turned around to face the voice. If worst came to worst, maybe he could fake being lost? Or say something silly like with those men earlier… Unfortunately the man standing behind wouldn't buy either excuse.

"G-Gilbert… I um, y-you see, this, um, I n-needed to…" He voice trailed off under the albino's tense gaze and he instinctively huddled into himself and moved off to the side of the door.

Gilbert sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair and it was only then that Feliciano noticed how red and puffy his eyes were, not to mention how sunken they looked as well. He openly examined Gilbert and realised that the man, though older then Ludwig, had always appeared younger but right now, as he stood in front of the Italian, he looked much older. His usually vibrant white hair almost appeared grey in the lighting and his eyes had dulled to a dark pink colour.

"Gilbert?" He ventured, taking a tentative step towards the other man. Gilbert shook his head and stepped back.

"You're here to rescue Mathew, Kiku and Alfred aren't you?" He asked as he reached into his pocket to pull out a key card. Feliciano nodded weakly as Gilbert gently pushed him out of the way and unlocked the large door.

"Don't make a sound ok? And… Don't be shocked either… We don't want to arouse suspicion." Feliciano nodded and smiled as he followed Gilbert down a flight of stairs, the door closing behind them both, leaving them in the low lighting of the florescent tubes along the roof.

* * *

"No-mmnph!" A pair of lips crashed into his own as Arthur was forced back onto the bed, literally kicking and screaming. The Doctor had grabbed him by the wings and dragged him along the floor, before picking him up and throwing him forcefully onto the large bed.

Arthur pushed back against his shoulders, managing to get a second of air before they were on him once again. One of the Doctor's hands grabbed his own and held them tightly, while his free hand began to pull at Arthur's new clothes, ripping off one of the buttons and tearing the material. Arthur bit down on his lip again, causing the Doctor to pull back panting and smirking at the same time.

"Y-you never learn, do you?" Arthur felt his cheek stinging before he even saw the hand come down on his face. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheek to make a red blotchy print of the Doctor's hand.

"No!" He shouted again, struggling his hardest against the arms but it was starting to seem futile. The Doctor sat on top of him, holding him and smirking down at him, keeping him in place like it was nothing. Then it started to get worse, as the Doctor finished pulling off his vest and then his shirt, ripping more buttons as he went.

Arthur shivered as his entire chest and stomach was exposed to him and his leering eyes. This was insane! Nothing more than a crazy nightmare! Arthur struggled more, determined that he would get out of there, one way or another.

The Doctor leaned down and kissed his collarbone, softly but slowly gaining ferocity till he was biting the pale skin, leaving red marks as he went. Arthur gasped and whimpered, pausing for a moment during his escape attempt at a rather rough bite but he was not about to give up.

"F-fuck off!" He snarled at the Doctor, smiling inwardly when the Doctor paused in his assault to look up at him. His blue eyes, which were usually cautious and calculating, stared back at him with confusion before they hardened.

"You will not say such things to me!" He yelled, letting go of Arthur's hands and punching him in the face. Arthur recoiled and covered his face, attempting to curl up into a protective ball. He did not think that the Doctor would react in such a way as the assault continued for a minute longer and his body began to ache from the unceasing punches.

"St-stop…" He sobbed behind his arms.

"Stop what?"

"Stop… P-please…" The punches came to a stop and were replaced by the Doctor's lips once again. Arthur trembled and tried to pull himself away to the other side of the bed. The Doctor simply smirked as he followed the experiment further onto the bed, stopping him once he got too close to the edge.

"See? I can be kind if you are willing to behave." He purred and ran his fingers down Arthur's bruising chest, pausing at his navel. Arthur was trembling uncontrollably now, but he resisted the urge to speak out against him, fearing a repeat of the last time.

The Doctor moved his head down, preoccupied in leaving more red marks down Arthur's stomach, and leaving Arthur's arms free. Arthur's right hand felt around behind him, first the edge of the bed and the… Bedside table. His breath hitched as he came to the sudden realisation of a possible escape. His hand moved back a little more, touching the cold porcelain lamp that sat upon the table, and wrapping his fingers around the neck.

Arthur's green eyes stared sightlessly forward as he brought the lamp forward then up. His gaze flicked down for a millisecond and he carefully regarded the man in his lap harshly before he brought the lamp down onto the blonde's head.

The effect was instant, as the Doctor slumped forward into his stomach with a grunt and then he was completely still. The entire room went deathly silent, the only noise Arthur was able to hear was his panting and over that, his own pounding heart beat. He stayed motionless on the bed, staring down at the body in his lap as his mind refused to register that he had just taken out the Doctor.

Ten minutes must have passed by the time Arthur made a move, slipping slowly out from underneath the Doctor's lifeless body and placing the lamp back on the bedside table. He lightly touched a few of the marks on his chest and winced when he did so. They felt sore and sensitive. He quickly donned his dress shirt, slipping his wings through the holes and buttoning it up to his chest as the top three buttons were missing.

Once he felt covered, Arthur returned to the Doctor's body and cautiously inspected his pockets, ready to jump back should he wake up. In the third pocket, he was successful and found a card attached to several keys. He slowly pulled them out, ever attentive to the man below him.

Once the keys were safely in his possession, he ran to the door and thrust the first one in. Wrong. Second key. Wrong. Third key. Wrong. Fourth Key… Was right! Arthur held back a cheer as the large door clicked and he was able to twist the doorknob open.

The hall was eerily silent when he stepped out into it. His eyes darted up and down the hall several times before he took a few hesitant steps out then stopped as he realised he would probably need a weapon. Arthur peered back into the room at the still Doctor… Then at the lamp that he had used to hurt him. He ran back across the room on his tip toes, trying his best not to make any sound, then grabbed the closer lamp, pulling at its cord twice before it came loose.

Then he was out the door with his weapon and keys.

* * *

Alfred groaned loudly and rolled over expecting more of the cold floor, but instead he found something soft and much more welcome.

"Nmmh?" He grunted and turned his head awkwardly to peer behind him at two shadowy figures.

"Al? You awake?" One of the shadows moved closer to him.

"Mattie? What are you doing here?" Alfred winced as his head started pounding. It had been one hell of an ordeal. After his argument with the Doctor- Bonnefoy- whatever his name was, he had been brought back down here and knocked on the back of his head. He disliked that hitting him was becoming a recurring scenario.

"We were, uh, kidnapped." Mathew smiled ruefully. "Kiku is here too… But I'm sorry, we don't know where Arthur is." Alfred sat up at the last part, instantly regretting it as his head felt like it exploded a second later. He groaned and bent over again, clutching his skull.

"Here Alfred, let me take a look." Kiku said softly, shifting over so that he could reach Alfred's head. The Asian man's soft fingers gently threaded themselves through his hair and began to feel around until Alfred let out a whine when he found the sore spot. "It doesn't feel wet… I don't think they broke your skin but you'll probably have a big bruise." He pulled his hands out of Alfred's hair and sat back down against the wall with Mathew.

"Fuck…" Alfred groaned again. "All that work for nothing, he was still captured."

"It couldn't be helped, we had no idea they would be waiting for us back at home." Mathew reasoned. "You did all you could Al, you're only human."

Alfred gritted his teeth and tried his best not to yell, or scream, or punch the walls like the second woman had been doing. But it was all so frustrating! After all the work they had gone through, helping Arthur heal, showing him new things and even helping him speak… It felt like a waste if all that happened at the end was they ended up back in the place that he had risked everything to escape.

"I know but… Damn it! And even now, I got you two in trouble too! I'm sorry guys…" In the dark, Alfred felt his brother and best friend move and sandwich him in a hug. He sighed, then began to chuckle as he hugged them back.

"Come on Al, we knew what we were getting into when you first brought Arthur home. I don't think there's a person out there who could have done any better for him as you've done." Mathew smiled, and Alfred felt it even if he could barely see it.

"Mathew-san is right," Kiku continued. "Arthur-san was very lucky that in this big wide world it was you who found him." He placed a comforting hand on Alfred's shoulder. Alfred sniffed in the darkness, quickly rubbing his eyes.

"Aw geez, you guys…" He muttered. "You always know how to get the hero back up!" The atmosphere, despite being cold, damp and dark, lightened as Alfred's spirits were brought back to their usual happy self. Both men chuckled at his turn around, knowing full well that this was Alfred's most heartfelt version of a 'thank you'. "We should be thinking of a way out now," Alfred, continued, back to his usual peppy self. "I'm pretty sure if we tested all of them we could find a loose bar-"

A loud siren accompanied by the light returning stunned the trio in their cell.

"What's going on!" Mathew tried to call over the scream of the siren.

"I don't know!" Alfred yelled back, running over to the bars and looking down the corridor. A few doors burst open and people poured out of them, tripping and falling on the floor, yelling and shoving each other out of the way as they all tried to get to the stairs first. Alfred frowned and banged on the cages bars.

"Hey!" He screamed. "Heeeeey! Let us out! Heeeey!" But it was no use as the men and women seemed more intent on getting their own butts out of there.

"This can't be a good thing…" Alfred muttered.

* * *

"Quick! Move!" Gilbert, the moment the siren had sounded, shoved Feliciano into a small storage room. The older man seemed extremely distressed by the noise Feliciano noticed, and for a good reason. Not even a minute after they had gone into hiding, a stamped of people had sounded outside. Their voices high pitched and frightened as they ran to the stairs, the only way up and down from the laboratory.

"W-what's going on?" He quietly asked Gilbert. The albino grit his teeth and waited a few moments, after the hoards of people had gone silent before opening the door.

"Come on, we don't have much time!" He hissed, grabbing Feliciano's wrist and dragging him back into the eerily empty hall.

"Gilbert! Please tell me what's going on?" He yelled, the siren beginning to make him feel very uncomfortable. Gilbert didn't answer him and instead ran faster, pulling the Italian along with him till they reached a nasty looking place. The lightened hall still looked unpleasant, covered in old styled stones and mould. Feliciano couldn't picture working down here for any amount of money.

Gilbert slapped a large red button on the side of the wall, and Feliciano watched as all the doors opened. His hearted raced as no one left the rooms till he heard a scuffling of feet further down and Alfred, Mathew and Kiku emerged from one of the cages.

"Kiku!" He yelled, a few tears of happiness streaming down his cheeks. The Japanese man looked up very surprised, then happy once he saw his old friend. Alfred looked livid as he stormed up to the group, pushing past Feliciano to grab Gilbert by the collar of his shirt.

"What the fuck is happening now Gilbert?" He demanded, giving the albino a shake for good measures. Gilbert snarled and pushed Alfred away from him.

"We don't have much time." He growled. "Francis probably activated the fail safe."

"A fail safe?" Mathew questioned. Gilbert looked longingly at Mathew for a moment before shaking his head.

"I'll explain on the way, hurry!" He urged them.

"Wait! What about the others in here?" Alfred grabbed his arm. Gilbert wrestled his way out of Alfred's grip.

"The doors are open, if they want to escape then can, no one's stopping them, but we can't stay much longer!" Mathew had never seen panic on Gilbert's face before, the cocky German was always sure, but not now.

"We should go Al, Arthur's probably upstairs anyways." At the mention of Arthur Alfred became keener to get going.

"Alright, ok, let's go" He glanced back once more at the strange place and looked as one of the women slowly made her way out of her cell and looked over at them. Good, if she knew she could escape she could help the others. The group began jogging, at Gilbert's insistence, up the stairs while he continued his explanation.

"This facility is illegal in the eyes of the public, but it's founded by a part of the government." He began as they started their ascent. "A lot of illegal business happens here… As I'm sure you've all noticed… And because of that, this place was given a failsafe should any of this become… Public,"

"It's going to explode right?" Alfred snapped at him. Gilbert paused to look at Alfred, then Mathew, his expression said it all.

"So Francis has activated the fail safe and this place is going to explode… And we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Mathew concluded, as they started moving again.

"On the nose." Gilbert answered bitterly. The group eventually reached the door at the end of the stairs, wide open. In the distance they could hear more people yelling as their escaped the building.

"This way." Gilbert ordered, pointing down the corridor. "If we head straight then turn right as the end of this hall, we'll have it's just a straight line to the exit." Alfred waited for Kiku, Feliciano and Mathew to run ahead of them before following them down the hall. He paused as he realised that if he ran outside and Arthur wasn't there…

A loud crash sounded back down the hall they had just run down. Alfred's heart pounded in his chest as he risked a look behind him. Had he looked a second later, he would have missed the feathered wings and the gold coloured hair as it disappeared down the staircase, down into the laboratory.

"Arthur…" He looked back where the others had stopped, waiting for him. "Keep going!" He yelled. "I'll meet up with you guys outside!" Alfred whirled around and followed Arthur down the stairs.

"Alfred!" Mathew screamed over the siren, Gilbert holding him tight so he couldn't chase after his brother. "Alfred... Please come back…" Gilbert shoved them down the hall, the exit so close.

* * *

Arthur had hid in a small room, cramped with not very much room at all, but the siren had caught him off guard. People yelling everywhere, running, pushing, screaming. Arthur hadn't enjoyed the experience. So he hid until the noise of the people had died down and he felt it ok to continue.

On high alert, jumping at every sound he heard that wasn't the siren, Arthur's going was quite slow. He vaguely knew the location of the door, very vaguely. It wasn't till he saw a sign on the wall that said 'Laboratory' and pointed down a different hall did he feel like he was getting anywhere.

Lamp still clutched tightly in his fingers, Arthur crept down the hall, voices further down making him wary. If there were still people down here he might still get into trouble. He wasn't even sure the Doctor was still unconscious. The sirens were most likely his fault so he had assumed the Doctor was wandering the halls. The voices had started to fade a little so Arthur made a dash for the staircase, turning to the see the owners of the voices.

Alfred.

Alfred was standing in the middle of the hall. He was so close that all Arthur would have had to do was call for him and he would be saved. Alfred would take him away from this place. He could feel Alfred's warm hand holding his own in his mind and a small tear escaped his eye. He couldn't. Alfred was a normal human… He was an experiment. Arthur grit his teeth and looked back at the staircase behind him.

"Ivan…" He whispered. He thought Alfred would understand.

The lamp slipped from his fingers and smashed against the floor, but he wasn't concerned. He was off and running down the stairs, losing his footing twice but managing to grab the bar attached to the wall before hitting the floor. In his haste he failed to hear the footsteps closing in behind him.

The hall was as cold as he remembered it being but that didn't slow his pace. As he moved down the hall, he noticed that all the doors were open and not an experiment was there to be seen. That was until he reached the operation room.

The door was wide open and while the table was covered in blood, no body lay nearby. Arthur swallowed and took a chance.

"I-Ivan?" His heart stopped as he took a step closer to the operation room's door. Was his friend still alive? Was he too late…? "Ivan?" He called a little louder.

That was when he heard shuffling inside and the voice that had lulled him to sleep for years called back.

"подсолнушек…?"

Arthur's heart skipped a beat as he ran inside. His eyes searched the room, finally finding what they so dearly sought after. Ivan sat with his back against the wall, on the other side of the room. His clothing a mess of old and new blood stains, while his neck looked like a wreck. Next to him sat the violent blonde haired female and the brunette female. Both looked up at him with sorrowful eyes at their situation. Lying on the floor on next to the girls was another experiment. Arthur had never seen him before now and he was glad. The man's body was pale, paler then he, and he appeared to have no muscle in his body, the skin looking like it was wrapped around his bones. He wasn't breathing.

"подсолнушек… Come here." Ivan beckoned him over with a weak wave of his hand. Arthur was by his side in a flash, tears sliding down his cheeks as he inspected all of Ivan's wounds.

"Ivan…" He sobbed, gently touching the wound on his neck. The scar tissue beneath his fingers felt rough. Arthur shuddered and buried his face into the larger mans shoulder. Ivan wrapped his arms around Arthur and pulled him close.

"I sorry… I-I came to h-help you." Arthur hiccupped into his shoulder, his entire body shuddering with each sob.

"Thank you… I am very grateful подсолнушек." He whispered, leaning down to press a soft kiss to Arthur's head. The kiss made him look up, his eyes red from the tears.

"W-we can escape," Arthur searched Ivan's eyes but he just sat there, calm as he always was. "P-please Ivan… Please." He pleaded; grabbing the large man's hand and gently tugging at it but to no avail. Ivan simply sat there, smiling down at his sunflower, content that what little time he had left would be spent with his closest friend.

"We," Ivan gestured to the rest of the group. "Plan to stay… The world would be a better off place without us, da?"

"No! No, please… B-but what about s-sunflowers?" Arthur was desperate to give his friend a reason to leave, anything…

"You are my sunflower, my подсолнушек… I can die happy knowing that I saw the most precious flower that I love so much." Ivan lifted his hand and stroked Arthur's cheek, wiping away a tear as he did so. The green eyes he adored so much stared back into his, wide and frightened like the day they had first met. After a moment Arthur lifted his own hand and held Ivan's in place against his face.

"Th-then… I stay, I stay too…" Arthur decided, smiling weakly up at Ivan.

"Then I'm staying too." A loud voice boomed from the doorway. Arthur whirled around to see Alfred standing tall, his blue eyes determined.

Arthur opened his mouth to tell Alfred to leave, when the first explosion deafened them.

A bomb planted in the far side of the building detonated, sending smoke and debris up into the air, and then tumbling down. Inside the building the damage was far more severe. Alfred fell forward into the room as bits of roof fell behind him. Arthur was pulled into Ivan's embrace, burrowing his head once again into the larger experiments shoulder while Ivan used his body to protect him from falling debris. After a moment the shaking began to subside but the breaking of the roof however, did not.

Arthur slowly detached himself from Ivan and turned back to Alfred who had stood up again and was dusting himself off.

"Alfred… Must go. Y-you can't stay… here." He coughed as the dust was sucked into his nose and mouth. It was very unpleasant. Alfred coughed and kneeled down closer to them, his eyes meeting Arthur's calmly.

"I ain't going anywhere without you." He said, the seriousness in his eyes caught Arthur off guard.

"I-I can't go…" He whispered, his hand clasping Ivan's tightly.

"Da… You can." Ivan slowly pushed Arthur away and closer to Alfred. Arthur looked back at Ivan, confused and upset.

"W-why?" Arthur tired to push back but Ivan would always be stronger.

"подсолнушек, you deserve a life better then this… And looking at you now… I can see that you have experienced this life." He smiled at Arthur and then looked somberly at Alfred. "I am trusting you to look after him." Alfred nodded and saluted Ivan.

"I will look after him till the day I die." He promised, holding a hand over his heart. Ivan scrutinized him for a moment. When he felt satisfied that Alfred would keep his promise, he turned back to Arthur whose face was fresh with more tears.

"I-Ivan…" His body racked with sobs, knowing deep within his heart that this would be the last time he ever saw his friend. Ivan slowly pulled Arthur back into his embrace, squeezing him lightly. Arthur wrapped his arms around Ivan's neck and took a few deep breaths to calm him self.

"W-we will meet… Again s-someday." He promised, nuzzling against his neck.

"Da, подсолнушек, we will meet again." Ivan smiled, feeling a small tear slipped down his cheek and soak into Arthur's dress shirt. "Take care Arthur, Я люблю вас очень ." A second explosion, this time closer, rocked the building.

"Arthur! We have to go!" Alfred yelled, pushing some of the larger debris aside to make room to run.

Arthur pulled away from Ivan, quickly wiping away his tears. "I love you too… V-very much…" He whispered, quickly planting a kiss on Ivan's forehead. Alfred reached for his hand, taking it and pulling him out the door. Arthur looked back once to see Ivan smiling and waving at him before the dust became too thick to see through.

* * *

Mathew paced furiously in the snow back and forth as he waited for his brother, and hopefully Arthur, to emerge. Kiku and Feliciano were trying to calm him down while Gilbert stood off to the side, talking into his phone and checking his watch continuously. That was about when the first explosion went off.

Everyone hit the ground and covered their heads as various sized chunks of building flew through the air and fell all around. The noise was deafening and Mathew thought he might never hear again, till Gilbert's worried voice reached him. The albino was covering him from the debris while yelling at him to leave, or that's what it sounded like. With a hard shove, Mathew pushed Gilbert off him and crawled backwards till he was closer to Kiku and Feliciano. He wasn't going anywhere till Alfred and Arthur were out of the building.

The door flew open and two people ran out of the building; Ludwig and a smaller blonde man that he didn't recognize. The pair ran toward the other side of the clearing, the smaller man screaming something in what Mathew recognized was French. Gilbert swore and stood, wiping snow from his clothes before running over to the pair. Mathew was glad; he didn't particularly want Gilbert near him right now.

"Mathew-san!" Kiku yelled. "We should move further away, if Gilbert-san is correct, then the place will explode and we are too close to not be effected!" Mathew looked at the building again and nodded. Kiku was right, but he wasn't leaving the area.

"Alright, the wall should be far enough back!" He yelled back, his ears still filled with a ringing sound left over from the explosion. By the time they had managed to move to the wall through the snow, police sirens had sounded, far but getting closer fast. Mathew leaned against the wall panting. Good, if the police were coming then all this mess would be cleaned up. He looked across at Gilbert who was struggling with the French man, screaming at him something that he was too far away to hear. The police cars screeched to a halt just outside the red walls and the yelling of 'Police! Hands up!' began. It was then that the second bomb went off.

Everyone once again fall to the ground and covered their heads and ears as more debris flew through the air. The building was shaking considerably more now, around where the first bomb had gone off was starting to collapse on its self. Mathew couldn't wait any more for Alfred.

"Mathew-san!" Kiku reached out to grab Mathew's leg as he ran past.

"Let go Kiku! I have to go find him!" Mathew yelled, reaching down to pull the Japanese man's hands off his leg. Once free he made a dash for the door they had exited from. He could hear people yelling after him, screaming at him to turn around, to stop but he couldn't. Alfred and Arthur were inside and he was not going to lose them.

He stretched out and reached for the door handle, grabbing it and very nearly running into two very familiar people. "Alfred!" He cried, throwing his arms around his brother's neck and hugging him tight.

"M-Mathew!" Alfred grinned and used his free hand to pat Mathew's back. "I don't think we should be standing here bro." Mathew blinked and realized he was right. The building was falling all around them.

"Hurry then! The police are here, we need to get away before the whole thing explodes!" Alfred wasted no time following his brother and dragging Arthur along at the same time. They made their way over to where Kiku and Feliciano were huddled against the red wall, and crouched down next to them. Alfred then hunkered down in front of Arthur, keeping him between the wall and himself.

The following four explosions were biggest, and the last, as though the first two were just warnings. They were most likely detonated from below up as the whole building appeared to jump a foot into the air then gravity pulled it all down into a fiery cloud of dust and toxins. A huge cloud shot upwards into the air, adding to the dark clouds above. The rock and metal that had been thrown into the air was now returning to earth. Everyone was visibly shaken by the ordeal, though none so more than Arthur.

His wide eyes scanned the burning and mostly destroyed building in front of them, watching, wishing with all his might but knowing it was a lost cause. There was no way… No… W-way… Arthur was enveloped into a tight hug from Alfred who wrapped his arms around the smaller body and whispered into his ear but the aftermath of the explosion had left everyone temporarily deaf. Arthur could feel Alfred's lips moving against the side of his head, most likely trying to comfort him but…

"Ivan…" He whimpered softly, tears welling up again. "Ivan I-I… Ivan! Ivaaaaan!"

His whole body shook as he reached out towards the wreckage; Alfred's strong-arms the only thing keeping him still. Alfred's soft whispers become louder to overcome Arthur's screaming but Arthur was being unreasonable. Mathew crawled over to them, unsure of how to comfort him but there incase Arthur tried to run back.

"I-Ivan…!" Arthur's voice was hoarse from screaming and his body felt exhausted from the entire ordeal. He couldn't fight against Alfred…

"Arthur! Arthur, I'm sorry, please, Arthur's he's gone," Alfred held Arthur's sobbing face with his hands and forced the smaller blonde to look at him. Arthur looked a mess with snot and tears running down his face. Alfred leaned in closer and rested his forehead against Arthur's hot one.

"I'm sorry Arthur… Ivan… Is gone…" This brought about a whole new set of tears and wails from Arthur who let Alfred pull him into a tighter hug so that his face was buried in Alfred's chest. His own hands curled up and pressed against his chest also while Alfred gently stroked his head.

"Alfred!" Mathew shrieked, jerking him away from his concentration on Arthur. A shot rang overhead and forced the group to duck and the bullet hit the wall with a small bang. All eyes turned to the blonde man holding the gun, directly pointed at Alfred and Arthur.

Arthur's body started to quiver when he looked and saw who it was. Francis stood in the snow; the pistol trained on Alfred's head and smirked. His blonde hair, once kept neat and wavy was now disheveled while his feral looking eyes swept over the group, resting on Arthur.

"Arthur." He growled. "Come here and I promise I won't shoot any of your new friends." His smile twisted in a way that appeared sinister. Arthur cowered from him and Alfred was more than willing to put himself in the guns path to protect him. Francis' smiled wavered as he watched them, his patience wearing thin.

"Arthur… If I can't have you then no one can!" He cooed. "You want more blood on your hands? First Ivan and now Alfred… If you don't come here now… I will blow his fucking brains out all over the snow!" Arthur whimpered and buried his face deeper into Alfred's chest.

The French man laughed, letting his gun arm fall for a moment before lifting it up again and taking aim. Mathew panicked and crawled closer to his brother, his movement catching the unwanted attention of the crazy doctor. "And what do you think you're doing hmm?" He giggled and aimed for Mathew instead, the gun cocked and ready to go.

"No!" Gilbert roared and placed his hand over the guns hole and forcing it another direction. This didn't stop Francis though. He laughed, tears streaming down his face as he fired into the albino's hand until the gun was just clicking with each turn. Gilbert's hand was mutilated, the bullets having taken off almost half of his hand. The bloodied chunks of hand had fallen into the snow, destroyed beyond recognition. He howled in pain and fell to the side, leaving Francis open for a clear shot.

The doctor fell forward, three bullet wounds, two in his legs and one in his shoulder, and cause of his termination. In the snow he laughed, laughed and giggled as he bled out. Gilbert ignored him as he clutched his hand in pain. At least he had saved Mathew… The Canadian was sitting by Alfred and Arthur, shocked by Gilbert's actions. He was about to run over to him when the police started yelling again. Telling everyone to freeze and put his or her hands in the air.

Kiku, Feliciano, Mathew, Alfred and with Alfred's prompting, Arthur, all put their hands up in the air while the police walked around to investigate what was happening.

It was quickly deduced that they were victims of the incident, and were taken to an ambulance for treatment of shock. Everyone was fine, just a few scrapes and bruises, though Alfred and Arthur were treated for smoke inhalation and would have to go for a second check up. The entire time Arthur refused to let go of Alfred's arm, even when Alfred had his check up. He had just smiled and apologized to the medics and tried to reassure Arthur the best he could.

Kiku sighed as he stood aside from the others. He had to get over Alfred, even if he did decide to like guys, he knew that he wouldn't be the first guy Alfred would ask out. Staring off into space he didn't hear the man come up behind him, till he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Ah! S-sorry," He jumped and quickly apologized to the man standing behind him.

"No problem… Here." His voice was soft and… A little slow. Kiku looked down at the hand that was being offered to him. In the hand was a white handkerchief. He blushed and looked up at the man whose forest green eyes regarded him slowly. "You were crying… I thought you could use one of these." Kiku touched his cheek and the man was indeed right.

"Th-thank you…" He took the handkerchief and gently dabbed his cheeks and eyes. The man smiled a little and took it back afterwards, tucking it away in his pocket.

"My name… Is Hercules," He introduced himself. "I'm one of the new medics." Kiku smiled and bowed his head.

"My name is Kiku, it is a pleasure to meet you Heracules-san." Heracules smiled back.

"This might be… Forward? But I have seen you before at the hospital… So I was wondering if you would like to go for coffee?" Kiku blushed and looked away while considering. His eyes wandered to where Alfred and Arthur were. They would always be friends, always. Kiku turned back to Heracules.

"Hai, I would love to."

Mathew leaned against the ambulance, waiting while Alfred was getting his check up done. As he gazed around he saw Gilbert being loaded into an ambulance with a pair of policemen, his hand still bleeding and needing urgent attention. Whether by chance or fate, he turned briefly before he was loaded into the ambulance and their eyes met. Gilbert had never looked so remorseful in his life, Mathew decided.

With a huge sigh he returned to watching Arthur and Alfred and smiled. Maybe in ten years or so when he had forgiven him, he'd go visit Gilbert in jail.

Maybe...

Once the initial police interview was complete, and they were allowed to go home for the night, Mathew, Alfred and Arthur ordered MacDonalds, and for once Mathew didn't complain. They ate in silence and headed to bed not too soon afterwards.

As Alfred walked around his room, muttering about how messy it was thanks to the guys who had been hiding in there earlier, Arthur sat silent on the bed. He was exhausted, mentally and psychically and he knew he should feel safe now that he was back home, with Alfred and Mathew yet… He felt sick inside that he hadn't kept his promise. The one promise he had ever made. Alfred, who had changed into his pajamas, walked over and placed some clothes in Arthur's lap.

"Here, these can be your pajamas till my other shirt is clean." He said, frowning when Arthur didn't reply. Kneeling down in front of him, he took Arthur's hands into his own.

"I'm very sorry Arthur…" He muttered. "I knew… That you wanted to help him… And I know it hurt you to leave him… But tell you what? First thing tomorrow… We'll go buy sunflower seeds, and we'll grow our own sunflowers for Ivan. What do you think?" Arthur leaned forward against Alfred; a small smile adorned his features.

"Y-yes please." Alfred beamed and kissed his cheek, chuckling when Arthur blushed.

"Arthur. I like you. V-very much." He confessed, stuttering in his nervousness. "And I promise to never leave you, so long as I live." Arthur sniffed, quickly wiping his eyes as new tears formed. Alfred panicked and quickly hugged him. "Please don't cry Arthur." He whispered. "Don't be sad." Arthur smiled and laughed into Alfred's chest, surprising the American.

"I am not sad… I am happy." He sniffed, pulling back from Alfred opening his wings out. "I am happy." Arthur repeated propelling himself forward and wrapping his arms around Alfred's neck. Alfred yelped and fell backwards onto the floor with Arthur on top of him. They both lay there for a moment, giggling, and then Alfred sat up with Arthur on his lap. Gazing into each other's eyes it seemed like something out of a fairytale to Alfred.

"I l-like you very much too." Arthur smiled and Alfred kissed him. Their lips meeting for a soft, chaste kiss.

"I'm glad."

Who knew? Maybe the hero did get the guy.

* * *

Translations [Sorry if they are wrong]

Подсолнушек - Sunflower

Я люблю вас очень - I love you very much

vous êtes parfait, tu es à moi - you are perfect, you're mine

I am sooooo incredibly sorry that this has taken me so long to get up! Last night I finally got inspired, so I read through my past chapters and today I was writing non-stop! –ALL of the bags under my eyes-

GAH there's one more chapter [If you find something not explained, it'll be explained next chapter] THANK YOU FOR READING!


	13. эпилог

The snow crunched beneath Arthur's boot clad feet. Thick and white as it fell all around him and Alfred as they strolled down the street. The area was relatively empty, with the exception of a few people moving around in the cold, making their ways to various shops or returning to apartments.

Arthur's fingers curled around Alfred's in a childish way, holding only three fingers as they walked instead of his whole hand. He didn't complain though as Arthur holding his hand at all was a small blessing. The blonde had been out of sorts since the day began, using a fork instead of a spoon to eat his breakfast, forgetting how to do up buttons and even freaking out at the sound of the phone, which he should really have been used to one year later.

Yeah… It had been one year since everything happened.

Alfred paused at the stoplight, tugging Arthur lightly back into place with him. The angel huffed and shuffled on the spot, peering intently at the lights, willing them to change. "Give it time." Alfred whispered, squeezing Arthur's fingers.

"I know, I know…" Arthur retorted. "I just… It's…" The words stuck in his throat, frozen like the air around him. Alfred sensed his boyfriend's distress and quickly pulled him into a warm embrace. Arthur squeaked at the movement, confirming that he really wasn't paying attention today but he stilled in Alfred's arms, and even returned to hug. His soft locks tickled Alfred's chin, his breath condensing the moment he exhaled.

"I know, you don't have to explain it to me." He mumbled into the gold nest of hair before placing a kiss on his head. The lights changed in front of them. "Now come on, I know a good flower shop that we can visit."

Unfortunately, Alfred had overestimated his ability to grow flowers… Especially sunflowers… When they lived in a world without sun. Arthur had settled for fake ones, saying he didn't mind just so long as they looked the same, but Alfred had seen the disappointment in his eyes each day the flower didn't grow. It had been expensive to get the bulb and even with the care Arthur tried to provide for it, it just would not grow. So Alfred did his research and located a flower shop that grew sunflowers.

While Arthur browsed the rows of colourful carnations, Alfred approached the clerk, having already made the order several weeks in advance. The elderly lady smiled and handed the (very, very expensive) flowers over to him and bid them farewell when they left.

Arthur cradled the flowers to his chest like a child, breathing in their scent deeply and smiling. Alfred's heart skipped a beat when he saw that smile. So innocent and happy, like the sun its self had come to life on his face. Even if just for a brief moment, Alfred loved seeing that smile.

"Come on Artie, let's keep moving!"

"It's Arthur git!"

The walk to their destination had taken longer then Alfred had originally thought, though considering they had walked from their new home Alfred guessed they were doing all right.

Alfred had never felt completely safe in his own house ever since Mathew, Kiku and Arthur had been ambushed there and the moment he had been free from police and government officials he had scouted out for a new home… and a new start, for all three of them. The new pent house was only a few square metres bigger then his last one, but it felt cleaner and more of a home now that they were safe. It wasn't too far from his old place so work for both him and Mathew was still within walking distance. It had been a stroke of luck that he had found the place!

The pair turned a corner and the high red-bricked wall came into view. Arthur's immediate reaction was to move closer to Alfred, who wrapped one arm snugly around his shoulders, careful to avoid his wings. He carefully watched Arthur's face, the guarded eyes, eyebrows slightly furrowing, and his lips pursed and tense. Even after he had explained that no one could live there any more, Arthur still had his doubts. No one held it against him.

They stopped at the gate, or what was left of it. Inside was the pile of snow covered ashes and rubble, untouched for twelve months as the government still decided on what to do with it. There were mounds everywhere where the snow had coated bits of debris from the explosion. Despite the amount of time since then Alfred still woke up to the sounds of explosions in his ears. Though he couldn't exactly complain. Arthur still woke screaming in the dead of night, screaming for Ivan, crying and thrashing till Alfred's soft words soothed him enough to lay him down so he wouldn't hurt himself. He had fractured his wrist once when he was thrashing and it collided with the wall.

Arthur's chest heaved Alfred noticed; he was trying to steady himself. "I am here with you Arthur." He said while rubbing Arthur's shoulder with his hand in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "I am here."

The angel calmed, leaning more onto Alfred as he relaxed. The moment seemed to last a lifetime as Arthur had closed his eyes and Alfred was left staring into the empty lot. He himself had almost closed his eyes when Arthur made his move, standing straight and taking a step forward. Hesitating, he quickly turned around to face Alfred.

"M-might I… Do this by myself first?" He asked voice subdued. Alfred watched him cautiously, his eyes bored into Arthur's before he answered.

"Ok, just give me a yell if you need anything." He replied, fiddling with his glasses as he did so. Arthur paused, something keeping him from turning back before he quickly stepped in close to Alfred and pressed his lips against the others.

"Thank you." He breathed, smiling shyly at Alfred's semi shocked expression. Alfred's face felt slightly flushed as Arthur turned and made his way towards the remains of his old life.

Alfred chuckled under his breath and leaned against the wall, watching Arthur trudge through the snow. '_A lot has happened since then_.' He realised.

The months following the incident seemed just as hectic as the incident its self. Everyone at the facility had been arrested, everyone, including Feliciano. The poor guy had spent two weeks in prison before he was quitted. Several witnesses stated that Feliciano was not actually part of the facility and was just the doctor on hand. Alfred had a feeling that it was Ludwig and Gilbert who had done this but it still didn't atone for everything else they had done. Kiku had allowed Feliciano to stay at his house till he felt capable of living by himself again. If Alfred remembered correctly, Feliciano had only moved out five months ago from Kiku's. He still remained the bubbly Italian that he had always been but Kiku had mentioned there were a few times when Feli had broken down, even a time where he held a knife to his wrist, the desperation of the situation weighing down on him. He was strong; he'd give him that.

Kiku had avoided him for the first few weeks after it had all happened. Alfred had felt dejected but when Mathew pointed out Kiku's feeling for him everything sort of clicked into place and Alfred had never felt so horrible in his life. He hadn't thought of letting Kiku know that he knew of his feelings but he accidentally blabbed it out. Kiku smiled and forgave him, letting him know that he was currently seeing someone and that he hoped that he and Arthur would be happy. Alfred smiled and hugged him, not caring that Kiku found it inappropriate. Kiku was his best friend and had just been to hell with him. He was glad they were still friends.

As for the people who had worked at the facility… Well, a lot of them were going to jail. Some had managed to evade capture and were missing. Other's had just disappeared. Alfred had a feeling that the government had something to do with that. Especially since Francis Bonnefoy was one of those who had disappeared. They were assured that he would no longer be a threat to them but with no conviction, Alfred was hardly assured. He kept up the façade that he was however, to keep Arthur happy. No telling what would happen if he said he had no clue as to where on earth Francis was.

Ludwig and Gilbert both were sentenced to fifty years with a chance for parole at twenty-five. All through out the sentencing Alfred had watched his brother's face, trying to gauge his reaction but Mathew had kept his face still, unfeeling and cold towards the outcome. He had admitted, a few months later and under the influence of a few shots, that he had been torn. Part of him wanting to punch Gilbert's pale face till it was black and blue, the other part wanting to run up to him then and there and kiss him. But he knew, the moment he had ended it the day he found out what Gilbert did, he knew he could never return to Gilbert's arms.

Alfred had done all he could to comfort his brother while also watching out for Arthur. On a few occasions he had sent Arthur to spend time with Mathew, which Mathew appreciated. He had taken Arthur out to hockey games with him, taken him to museums that Alfred refused to visit and they even found a nice café that made the most authentic tea and coffee they could find. Alfred knew better then to feel jealous of the time they spent together and he was forever trying to convince Mathew that he didn't mind. Of course there were times where he did spend time with just Arthur and there were times when the three of them would go out.

He sighed into the cold wind as he watched Arthur, kneeling in the snow before the wreckage. From the way he was hunched, he could clearly see the wings pressing against the material under his coat. By some miracle, Arthur had been allowed to remain with Alfred, of course every month he had to donate his blood for the medical field to study but it was a very small sacrifice considering what he was and what he was worth. It was also a miracle that they had managed to stay out of the media's attention. Arthur's speech was also improving.

With the work of Alfred, Mathew and a few speech tapes, Arthur was now speaking more or less perfect English. He still idolised Detective Kirkland and chose to speak with an English accent (The expression he had when Alfred had introduced him to Toris, A.K.A James was priceless). They still had to explain concepts, slang and occasional words that he had never used before but it was a huge improvement.

Alfred blinked lazily at Arthur before he realised that the angel was waving him over. Coming out of his daze Alfred nodded, waved back and started to make his way over. By the time he was by Arthur's side, the blonde had stood, reaching out his hand for Alfred to take. He slipped his cold fingers around the warm ones, smiling and leaning down to kiss Arthur's chilled nose. He looked down into Arthur's forest green eyes, frowning when he noticed they were slightly red. Arthur flinched and wiped his eyes quickly before averting his gaze.

"It's ok to cry… " Alfred offered.

"I… I don't need to cry…" Arthur mumbled. "I just miss him."

Alfred squeezed his hand tightly, following Arthur's gaze to the five flowers that had been placed neatly on the snow in tribute. The yellow petals and green stems stood out against the white, strong colours, representing the sun and the land. Alfred slowly bent over and picked one flower up, passing it back to Arthur. "We'll keep one at home, so that he'll be with us there too." He said. Arthur held the flower tentatively in his hand, as if afraid it would break.

"Ok," He whispered. "I'm ok… We can go now." Alfred nodded and glanced one last time over the snow covered rubble, sending a silent pray to Ivan, thanking him and assuring him that he was still taking care of Arthur.

They walked slowly back to the gate, hesitating at the entrance. Arthur stood frozen, watching the snow as it started to fall again. The small ice-cold snowflakes landed on Alfred's skin and caused him to shudder, huffing indignantly when Arthur snickered at him. Alfred opened his mouth to snap back but closed it; Arthur's laughter was betrayed by the sadness in his eyes and Alfred wasn't about to ruin the mood Arthur was trying to create.

"Come on Arthur, it's your cooking night tonight." Alfred smirked. Arthur flinched, his face draining of colour. He so did dread cooking night.

"Yes, b-but you promised to help me!" Arthur, sunflower gasped in one hand, Alfred's fingers in the other, looked up in mild alarm. Alfred beamed at him, squeezing his fingers and tugging him forward.

"I did! And a hero always keeps his promises!" Alfred's grin threatened to split his face as he leaned down to quickly press a kiss to Arthur's cheek before running down the street cackling.

Arthur flinched, cheeks red as he watched Alfred sow down to a jog down the street. The man was annoyingly loud and always hyper but Arthur couldn't have picked a better, more loving, braver man even if he had an entire lifetime to do so. In a moment he would chase after Alfred, catch up to him and probably punch him in the arm for running away. Yet the wind tugged him back, back towards the facility.

He dithered in the middle of the path clutching the sunflower in his fingers, torn between moving forward or… Going back.

The wind pulled harder, jerking at his scarf, coat and hair, it wanted him to turn…

"Arthur!"

Arthur jumped in the snow and faced forward to see Alfred watching him worriedly. No, Arthur didn't need to go back, he had Alfred… And Mathew, and Kiku and Feli and lots of other people in this new life. He knew Ivan would always be there in his heart, the warm words of his friend forever circulating through him like a summer breeze from his book.

"Coming!" He called back, his legs propelling him forward through the cold blanket of snow. Alfred waited for him, holding his arms out for the angel and Arthur smiled. His face lit up ad he moved to embrace Alfred in the snowy late afternoon. "Let's go." He said after a moment of enjoying the hug.

"Yeah." Alfred smiled back. "Let's."

* * *

A man stepped out from around the other side of the wall, watching the duo walk away from the site. His features obscured by a large scarf and beanie pulled down over his head. His soft violet eyes regarded them both with a soft longing. This was quickly replaced with joy at seeing his precious friend again.

"Ivan, we must go." Elizabeta strolled up behind him; her features were too, hidden behind articles of clothing and a pair of sunglasses. Ivan's eyes never left Arthur even as he nodded in agreement.

"Da… Just… Just let me enjoy this." He murmured, fingers playing with the end of the scarf. Elizabeta peered around her larger comrade just in time to see the pair walk across the road and disappear down the next street. A small smile found her lips; happy that at least one of them had found the life they had all dreamt of. Arthur could live their dream for them and she was content with that. "We are ready to leave da?" Ivan's voice caught her off guard.

"Y-yes, come on, your sister's meeting us at the pick up point and if we don't leave now, we won't ever." Ivan's head bobbed in an absent nod, his mind more on Arthur then them escaping and while he would have loved to have held him one more time, it was safer for both of them if Arthur did not know that he was alive.

"Mm… Will Natalia behave this time?" He asked as they turned and hurried off to their destination.

"I warned her but," She shrugged. "You know her."

"Da, I do…" Ivan replied. "…Do you think we shall ever meet Arthur again?"

"Maybe… Possibly." The doubt in her voice was obvious.

"Definitely." Ivan smiled, looking up at the darkened clouds. "We are super soldiers da? Not even being buried under a building could kill us." Elizabeta laughed at that. The scars covering her body would have disagreed though.

"Ok, definitely." She grinned.

"Da."

The pair disappeared into the various snow-covered streets of the city.

Undetected.

Unknown.

And free.

* * *

_OH MY GOD._

_Can I swear? I want to swear! I'm going to swear!_

_FUCK YES._

_My first long multi chapter story FINISHED. YAY. I'm so incredibly pleased! I never thought I'd make it –sobs-_

_Thank you for everyone who has made it this far! I am extremely grateful to all your comments and reviews [And please don't think you're being rude imp'ka… I'm not Russian, I do not speak/study Russian, so there's no doubt that whatever Russian I put in this story was bound to be flawed! I am very grateful that you let me know my mistakes!]_

_I really did enjoy writing this [However going back and reading it! Damn there are so many mistakes!] I love innocent Arthur as much as I love kick-arse bastard Arthur and so this helped that particular muse._

_And now I'm on a schedule to try and complete the last chapter of 'I Bet You Kiss Prostitutes' …and Hopefully get out another 'Jolly Roger' chapter as that seems to be my most popular story [God knows why, the writing… So awful!] BUT I WILL TRY._

_**Thank you very, very much for reading : ) Love for you all!**_


End file.
